Pine Bluff set to honor beloved Zebra super fan Greg Jackson with statue
BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
When you talk to those around the Pine Bluff High School athletic department there is no doubt who the Zebras’ No. 1 super fan has been for the past 40 years.
That would be Greg Jackson, a team manager since 1985 and man who will be honored with a statue in the near future.
It is a honor that is well-earned and deserved according to former Pine Bluff player and current head football coach Michael Williams.
“Greg Walker is everything Pine Bluff,” Williams said. “You look on Facebook right now and they have a go-fund me account going on because they are going to build a statue at our new school of Greg Walker.
“Greg just got his 13th (state championship) ring as a supporter of Pine Bluff and he’s been a big part of all of those.”
Jackson reminds Williams of the late James “Radio” Kennedy, a man whose true story was brought to life by actor Cuba Gooding in the 2003 movie Radio.
Radio was a big screen story that chronicled the relationship between Anderson (S.C.) TL Hanna High School head football coach Harold Jones and Kennedy, who passed in 2019.
“Greg was Radio before Radio,” Williams said. “That’s exactly who he is. He is definitely a guy that everybody knows and is known as the No. 1 Zebra fan. You look on the sidelines every Friday night or every Monday and Tuesday and he is there.
“He is always walking around in his No. 13 jersey trying to get the kids up. He may not walk around as fast as he used to do back in the day, but he gets it done.”
Williams was a star running back for Pine Bluff from 1999-2001 and is now in his fifth year as head coach of the Zebras after leaving a successful tenure as a Texas prep coach to take over his alma mater.
“Greg was there when I was playing,” Williams said. “It means the world to me because I have seen it from two different perspectives. I have seen it from a player’s perspective when he was getting more excitement going, upping the team morale and looking up and cheering on the fans. I’m thinking this guy really believes in us.
“I’m looking at the score and its 40-0, but he is still trying to prove it is on and we are going to come back and win.”
“And now you fast forward to me as a coach and he is a key factor and focal point for me.
“I look at him and say if he can do it after all these years, trying to root us own and really believe in us and he truly believes in the Zebra stripes.
“That makes me say they I have to coach even harder and if he can do it with his disability and be out there and root us on every day, what is your problem, what’s your issue in in believing in what we do?”
Pine Bluff is 19-16 since Williams returned to Pine Bluff, including a 10-3 mark in 2023 that was the most wins since the program went 13-0 while winning the state title in 2015.
“Greg is an inspiration for us now just as he has been all these years,” Williams said. “He is Mr. Zebra for sure and we are all better from having known him over the years.”
Photo courtesy of Pine Bluff Athletics
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