06:46 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Associated Press

CHENEY, Wash. - The hit Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson took from Cowboys Safety Darren Woodson last season sent him into a seizure and kept him from playing for nearly a month.

It's a memory etched in the minds of those who watched the game, but not Jackson, who can't remember the collision and wants to give his family, friends and fans something better to think about when they hear his name: more catches.

"My mother didn't like it and all my relatives who saw it on TV didn't like it," Jackson said. "Nobody really likes seeing somebody laying on the field unconscious."

AP Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson (82) walks off the field after being hit head-to-head by Dallas Cowboys safety Darren Woodson.

"I just thought he was playing ball," he said. "They say he hit me with the crown of his head in the face and stuff. I just play ball. I don't know if it's fair or unfair or if it was intentional or not intentional. All I know is I got hit and knocked down and I recovered well from it."

"Honestly and truly, things like that happen," the fourth-year Seattle Seahawks' wide receiver said. "A hit's a hit. You understand."

Despite Jackson's protestations, the helmet-to-chin shot he received from in the game at Dallas was not just a hit.

It knocked him out and left him with a concussion. After the game, coach Mike Holmgren said Jackson "almost died" as medical personnel struggled to keep his airway open for 40 minutes when he suffered a postgame seizure in the locker room.

A team spokesman later clarified the remark, saying Jackson never was in immediate danger of dying because his heart was beating and he continued to breathe. The spokesman said Holmgren meant to convey that Jackson could have died.

Woodson was fined $75,000 by the NFL for the shot and Jackson was held out of the next three games.

Jackson makes his living running precise routes in the middle of the field. That's where Woodson nailed him.

After his severe concussion, he showed his courage on the field by having a seven-catch, 114-yard, two-touchdown receiving game at San Francisco Dec. 1, a seven-catch, 99-yard game at Atlanta Dec. 15 and a five-catch, 90-yard, one-touchdown contest at San Diego Dec. 29.

Before his injury, he set career highs against Arizona in Seattle Sept. 15 with 10 catches and 174 yards, including a season-long 48-yarder.

He finished his third season with 62 catches for 877 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games after catching 70 passes for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns in 2001. In 2000, he led all NFL rookies with 53 receptions.

Holmgren said Wednesday that he's seeing a different Jackson in his fourth Seahawks' training camp.

"He's a little more serious," Holmgren said. "By that I mean he's not quite as vocal as he's been in the past. He wants to have a great year. I kind of sense how he wants to approach this year."

Holmgren is impressed by the way Jackson has been able to recover.

"He got banged pretty good, but then he came back and played with the same kind of passion before he played before he got hurt," Holmgren said.

Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram, who is Jackson's good friend, said he doesn't think Jackson has missed a beat since his injury.

"It was a pretty serious situation, but he didn't show any signs of backing down on the field to me," Engram said.

And that wasn't easy to do.

"It's tough, man, it's tough," Engram said. "It's kind of like, you know, when you get kicked off that horse, you've got to get back on. You can't hesitate. You've got to go back out there. If you're in this game and you're thinking about being hurt, that's not a good thing."

A third-round draft choice in 2000 from the University of Florida, where he tied the school record with six consecutive 100-yard games, Jackson is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

He was a restricted free agent after last season and visited the New York Jets. The Seahawks tendered him a one-year, $1.3 million contract offer in April and he signed it.

The Seahawks plan to try to re-sign Jackson to a long-term deal.