Eagles fans can watch DeSean Jackson’s football journey unfold, thanks to 35 years of footage: ‘A greater purpose’

The NFL did not work out for DeSean Jackson’s older brother, Byron.

In 1992, the San Jose State wide receiver signed with the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad but was cut two seasons later. Afterward, he moved home to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. His father, Bill Jackson, did not approve of Byron ditching his football aspirations. Bill tirelessly trained Bryon for the NFL and anything short of the league was considered a failure.

The two had a major fight and fell out of contact for years. Byron wanted to change that.

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“I wasn’t speaking to my dad,” Byron told the Inquirer. “He started doing the same thing to DeSean, like putting him in Pop Warner football, two teams at the same time. Just really taking it overboard.

“And I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to get back in my dad’s life and my brother’s life.’ Not only am I getting back here to kind of shield my brother from my dad’s overbearing ways, I’m going to document everything, and I’m going to be able to give my brother everything that I learned.”

Byron started filming his little brother and never stopped. On Thursday, Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story will release on Prime Video. The documentary, 35 years in the making, follows the former Eagles wideout through his entire football career. It also features a nuanced perspective on Bill, who is a major focus in the film.

“I’m excited for the world to see just the grand scheme of things when you talk about a father’s love and passion,” DeSean told The Inquirer. “His dad didn’t allow him to play sports and then he has kids and he pushes his kids to make it and one of them actually makes it big time.”

On Tuesday, a private screening of the film and a Q&A session with DeSean and the filmmakers afterward was held at the Landmark Ritz Five theater in Old City. The event was hosted by the Wilkes Sports Group at Janney Montgomery Scott, the Eagles’ official wealth management partner. The theater was filled with friends of the Jackson family, local youth football players, and Birds fans.

Multiple Eagles chants broke out before the film even began.

“I obviously feel like Philly’s my second home,” DeSean said. “It’s good to be able to show the documentary a few days before it comes out. I’m really excited, man. The process leading up to this, and what better way is to come here to where I consider my home and let them see it.”

Word of Byron’s footage spread through Hollywood for years. However, some potential filmmakers did not understand how Byron’s tapes differed from a typical sports documentary.

“Filming all 35 years, I’m really, really attached to the footage, almost like married to it,” Byron said. “I tried to complete the documentary a while ago, and it didn’t get no distribution, and it didn’t really go nowhere. And I think one reason was I’m so tied to the footage, and I was so protective of it. And it’s my family’s life, you know what I mean? I filmed a lot of stuff and a lot of stuff was controversial.”

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Mandon Lovett spent about four months sifting through the footage before signing on as the film’s director. He was shocked by Byron’s “incredible intimate access” to DeSean’s life. The next step for Lovett was expressing to Byron why more controversial moments — like an intense argument over DeSean’s rookie paycheck — were important to include in the documentary.

“Once his family could understand what I was trying to say, and I would never do anything to undermine them or to make them look bad or embarrass them,” Lovett said. “But there was a greater purpose involved with it, then I got their full support.”

Added DeSean: “That’s why you got these types of big-time producers and directors. The footage was taken from us, and they paid for it and they made it this great story. So for us, I mean, we kind of sat back and we had input on it, but it was really a merge of what we wanted and what they wanted. It was a happy medium.”

The film’s portrayal of Bill, who died in 2009 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, was especially important for Lovett. The director wanted to portray the Jackson patriarch as a “a full human being.”

“Sometimes in sports documentaries, it’s easy to just give the highlight reel and give the best quotables and all the highlights,” Lovett said. “For me, you just want to tell the truth. I think that there’s a lot of beauty in truth, and there’s a lot of beauty in imperfection. And Bill, by no means, is a perfect father.

“He is a flawed individual in so many ways, but I think that’s what actually draws people to him. They can see a little bit of their own fathers or their own selves in him.”

The documentary sheds light on the conclusion of DeSean’s first stint in Philadelphia. Following his best statistical season, the Eagles released the deep threat in 2014. The announcement came just one hour after NJ.com released an article detailing DeSean’s alleged association with gang members in Los Angeles. Eagles coach Chip Kelly later told reporters that DeSean was cut for “purely football reasons.”

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“After he got released by Chip Kelly, I think a lot of people kind of started wondering, ‘dang, is DeSean really a bad dude?’” Byron said. “I think as his career went on, and he kept having success, people learned a little bit more about his off the field side. I think people started appreciating him more and realizing that the controversy he got into with Chip Kelly and all of that, it wasn’t really true.”

The film has its fair share of highlights for football fans. Bryon filmed DeSean’s entire college recruitment, so eagle-eyed viewers will spot familiar faces like former USC defensive coordinator Ed Orgeron or Jimbo Fischer, who was the offensive coordinator at LSU when DeSean was in high school.

The documentary also includes DeSean’s draft day. The Cal receiver was expected to be selected in the first round, but he ultimately fell to the Eagles in the second. The film shows DeSean becoming visibly frustrated as he waited to hear his name. During the Q&A on Tuesday, a teenager in the audience asked how DeSean looks back on the day now.

“I made every team that passed on me, pay for it,” Jackson said with a laugh.