Kareem Jackson dirty hit timeline: Broncos DB gets ejected vs. Packers for another controversial hit

David Suggs

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Kareem Jackson dirty hit timeline: Broncos DB gets ejected vs. Packers for another controversial hit image

Kareem Jackson toes the line between physical and overzealous. On Sunday, he barreled right through it.

The Broncos safety was ejected after taking out Packers tight end Luke Musgrave with a blindside hit in the fourth quarter of Denver's contest with Green Bay.

Musgrave left the field with an ankle injury shortly thereafter.

It's one of countless crunching collisions for Jackson, a 14-year NFL veteran who stands as one of NFL officials' most prolific targets. Jackson has already been docked wages on four separate occasions for late hits this year.

His ejection on Sunday wasn't even the first of his season; he had already been kicked out of the Broncs' Week 2 affair with the Commanders after leveling tight end Logan Thomas with a helmet-to-helmet blow in the end zone.

MORE: Exploring the Mike Shanahan coaching tree

Here's what you need to know about Jackson's growing penchant for illicit contact on the gridiron.

Kareem Jackson dirty hit timeline

2013

Jackson's NFL career may have brought him to the Mile High City. But he started his professional career in Houston; the Texans made Jackson their first-round selection in 2010.

He enjoyed a lengthy career in H-Town, spending nine years with the franchise before swapping navy blue for screeching orange.

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Jackson's first encounter with the late hit came in 2013. While patrolling the airfield at NRG Stadium, Jackson delivered a crunching blow to then-Titans wideout Kendall Wright. Wright suffered a concussion on the play, while Jackson was docked $42,000 for his hit, which was deemed late and high.

Jackson was vehemently opposed to the characterization of him as a dirty player, telling reporters the following:

We’re supposed to be physical and try to knock the ball loose from the guy when they catch it in situations that you can. So that’s what we get paid to do. Now you tell me you’re going to take my money for doing that? That’s my style of play. That’s how I play. I’m not trying to be a dirty player. That’s just how I play the game.

2023

Jackson has retained his status as one of the league's biggest hitters. But oftentimes, that puts him at odds with the laws of the game.

His insistence on sending players into a tumble has revealed itself over and over throughout the 2023 season. In Week 1, he picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty after exploding on Raiders wideout Jakobi Meyers. Meyers suffered a concussion on the play, while Jackson was handed a $14,819 fine that week.

He didn't need long to get himself in hot water once more; one week later, referees served Jackson his walking papers after unleashing a venomous helmet-to-helmet shot on Thomas.

Thomas, like Meyers, had to leave the game with a concussion.

In addition to the ejection, Jackson was docked $19,669 for his role in Thomas' injury.

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Another slate of games brought more infamy for Jackson, who got a low blow in as the Broncos were mauled by the Dolphins. Jackson was ruled to have gone low on one of Miami's blockers. He wasn't penalized on the field for the hit, but did have to send some money up to New York once the business week started. He was one of three Denver players (alongside Patrick Surtain II and Drew Sanders) to have had to send part of his game check to NFL HQ.

Jackson caught the league's glare once more during Week 6, when he was deemed to have purposely jarred Chiefs tailback Isaiah Pacheco's lid loose towards the end of Denver's loss Kansas City. He soon was fined $43,709 for his move on Pacheco.

All told, Jackson has lost nearly $90,000 because of his late hits. That number is fluid, though, as the NFL could throw the book at him again after his hit on Musgrave. Jackson is a repeat offender, after all.

Still, Jackson doesn't appear too concerned. He doesn't see himself as someone willing to deliberately hurt opposition players.

"You [can appeal] and they give you back half your money, but it’s still some B.S.,” Jackson on the Ross Tucker Podcast. “It’s like, you’re taking money from me for these things that — I’m not out here trying to maliciously hurt people."

He's hoping that an appeals panel will see that too if the NFL comes after him again.

David Suggs

David Suggs Photo

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News. A long-suffering Everton, Wizards and Commanders fan, he has learned to get used to losing over the years. In his free time, he enjoys skateboarding (poorly), listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo, and penning short journal entries.