Cal Football: Quarterback Sam Jackson V Carries on a Family Legacy

There is pressure that comes with being a college quarterback.

Sam Jackson V — expected to become Cal’s starting QB when spring ball begins on Wednesday — knows a different kind of pressure. It’s what comes with the legacy of being No. 5.

The redshirt sophomore from Chicago, who transferred to Cal from TCU this offseason, grew up not knowing why everyone in his family called him No. 5.

“I never knew why until I was probably 7 or 8,” he says in the video at the top of this story. “I asked ‘em why you call me No. 5, and that’s when I found out I was the fifth.”

Yep, Jackson stands on the shoulders of four other Sam Jacksons — his father, grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather.

When he found out, Jackson became tickled by the whole thing. “It was crazy because like the Jackson 5, the band,” he said. “So it was like, OK, this can be kind of catchy for me.”

It's why Jackson has chosen to wear jersey No. 5 for the Golden Bears.

Sam never knew the first two in the line of Jacksons, but his dad, who owns a trucking company, always talks about No. 2, his own grandfather. “He loved him. It was kind of like the person he looked up to,” Jackson said.

The real moment of truth will come in the future when Jackson someday becomes a father and could have to choose a name for a son.

Will he continue a tradition that likely is a century in the making?

Might there eventually be a Sam Jackson VI?

“That’s the question all the time I get from people,” he said. “I don’t know if I want to continue it or just stop at five. I don’t know.”

And what does the rest of the family say?

“My Dad hasn’t really spoken much on it,” Jackson explained. “My grandfather thinks I should continue, my grandmother says it’s on me, and my mom is like, `Yes, continue it.’ “

Cover photo of Sam Jackson V . . . otherwise known as No. 5.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo