Doyel: Edwin Jackson's death is a tragedy, not a political opportunity for Trump

Edwin Jackson is not a political rallying cry. He is not a cause, not a talking point, not anything but one of the sweetest, kindest players in the Indianapolis Colts locker room – and he is gone. That’s what he is: Gone.

He’s a tragedy. That’s another thing Edwin Jackson is. He’s a tragic reminder of what happens when people make a terrible decision. And no, the decision in question is not the one made years ago by Manuel Orrego-Savala, suspected of fatally striking Jackson while drunk. Orrego-Savala decided to live illegally in the United States – returning twice after being deported.

No, Edwin Jackson is a reminder of another terrible decision too many of us make far too often, me included back in the day: We drive somewhere, we drink, we drive home. Sometimes we kill someone along the way. Every day in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 29 people are killed by a drunken driver. That’s a DUI-related death every 50 minutes.

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Who was Edwin Jackson? He was one of those tragedies, one who died Sunday just before 4 a.m. on Interstate 70, just west of downtown. Four miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, where Edwin Jackson was living his dream: Unrecruited out of high school so he walked on at Georgia Southern, undrafted out of college so he basically walked on as an NFL player. He earned employment in Arizona, where he showed up late for his tryout in May 2015 after missing his scheduled flight and was so mortified, was so wonderful, that he apologized by bringing the Cardinals’ coaching staff some of his mother’s homemade pound cake. And so a nickname was born.

The Cardinals released Edwin “Pound Cake" Jackson that August, but the Colts eventually picked him up and he stuck, earning eight starts in 2016 before missing the 2017 season with injury. He was rehabbing to return in 2018. He was 26.

Edwin Jackson is forever 26, not a name to be attached to a political position. But that’s what President Trump has done, embracing the memory of Edwin Jackson – we all know how Trump loves NFL players – and using it as a hammer to pound out his position:

Build the wall. Keep them out. America First.

Edwin Jackson isn’t dead because our country has too many illegal Central American immigrants. He's dead, police say, because our country has too many illegal drunk drivers. And his death, tragic as it is, is no more or less tragic than those of the others who died Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday. Using this one death as a political battle cry is an obscenity that obscures who Edwin Jackson was, and suggests he was more important than anyone else who will die this week because of a drunk driver.

More important, for example, than Jeffrey Monroe. He was 54. Lived in Avon. Drove an Uber for income.

Jeffrey Monroe is another victim of a suspected drunk driver. He too was struck Sunday just before 4 a.m. on Interstate 70, just west of downtown. He died next to Edwin Jackson.

The politicians aren’t naming Jeffrey Monroe. His death isn’t as important. He didn’t play for the Indianapolis Colts.

Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita, knowing an opportunity when he sees one, tweeted on Monday the words “angry” and “twice-deported” and “illegal immigrant” before getting around to the words “Edwin Jackson.” But after getting that out of that way – and not acknowledging Jeffrey Monroe in that tweet at all – Rokita immediately pivoted back to politics: “We must do more to get these dangerous illegal immigrant criminals off our streets, build a wall & put an end to illegal immigration.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, that tweet had been retweeted 1,195 times.

Exactly a half-hour after Rokita’s tweet, Indiana Rep. Luke Messer sent his own tweet, which reads in entirety: “A tragic loss for the family and friends of Edwin Jackson and the entire @Colts organization. My prayers are with all those who knew him.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, that had been retweeted exactly nine times.

Because death, in and of itself, doesn’t move the needle. But death tied to a political cause? Now you’re talking. And look, both sides do this. After mass shootings, politicians – mainly those on the left – use the opportunity to talk about gun control. Folks on the right tend to hate that, calling it unseemly in the immediate moments after such a tragedy, and I’m not saying they’re wrong. President Trump isn’t saying they’re wrong, either. Two days after a gunman killed 59 and injured more than 500 in October in Las Vegas, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Trump was asked if the country should discuss gun control.

"Perhaps that will come," he said, then added: "Not for now.”

But the time is now to discuss the tragedy of Edwin Jackson? Apparently so. Again, as his position on kneeling for the national anthem shows, Trump’s always had a soft spot for NFL players. And so he went on Twitter and mourned the loss of a truly wonderful young man by tweeting the words “disgraceful” and “a person illegally in our country” before bothering with the words “Edwin Jackson.” Trump never got around to the words “Jeffrey Monroe,” but in that same tweet he did pivot to the real tragedy: Democrats.

His tweet continued: “We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!”

No. Here’s what you must do, President Trump. Same for you, Todd Rokita, and any politician who would use a wonderful young man’s death for political gain:

Keep Edwin Jackson’s name out of your mouth.

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