WICHITA (AP) — Students will remember Randy Jackson as a strict coach and teacher with a sense of humor.
They will remember him for his signature phrase — “We’re still friends” — used by Jackson to lighten the mood after dishing out discipline.
“The kids were always talking about doing line drills or laps,” said Gayle Jackson, his wife. “Whenever he was finished, he would say ‘Now remember we’re still friends.’ The kids put that all over Facebook.”
There is a lot more to remember about Jackson, 61, a former NFL running back who survived the Wichita State plane crash in 1970. He died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife and daughters Amanda, 28, and Sesily, 19. Services are pending.
“He had a great impact on a lot of kids that would come to East,” said Ron Allen, boys basketball coach at the high school. “A lot of them would say ‘You remind me of Randy Jackson.’ I’ll take that as a compliment. He touched a lot of lives.”
Jackson was one of eight Wichita State football players to survive the Oct. 2, 1970 plane crash on Mount Trelease in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
Chiefs sign tight end from its list of draftees
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have signed tight end Tony Moeaki, one of the team’s two third-round draft picks.
Terms of the deal, announced Thursday, were not released.
Moeaki, 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, had 76 catches for 953 yards and 11 touchdowns at Iowa. He started 10 games in his senior season.