As the 2018 season came to a close in February, football organizations and their families brace for the unknown world of free agency. The Jackson family experienced that firsthand in March, until the former second-round draft pick returned to the city that propelled his professional football career. Gayle Jackson, DeSean's mother, was one of the many people who has long been awaiting his homecoming to Philadelphia.

"We're elated," Gayle Jackson said. "We're very overjoyed. We're thankful. We are just a ball of emotions. It is just bringing a certain sense of calm to the unsteady world of football."

Gayle resides in California and even from the other side of the country she is her son's biggest fan on and off the field. After the chaos that came with DeSean's abrupt departure from the Eagles following the 2013 season, his mother stresses the importance of family in the City of Brotherly Love. While most of the faces in the locker room are new, the standard that the Eagles created remains the same.