Tobe Okafor giggled as he recalled the sight of a strikingly tall and thin fellow plebe and defensive lineman confronting his first Navy football camp three years ago.  


But even as Okafor watched Jackson Perkins — who in 2017 carried maybe 220 pounds on his 6-feet-6 freshman frame — getting pushed and tossed around by much heavier and stronger offensive lineman, Okafor also was struck by qualities Perkins still radiates.


"I don't want to say I wrote [Perkins] off back then. But my first impression was this guy has an awful lot of work to put in if he wants to play D-line at the college level," Okafor says.


"The other thing that stood out was how determined Jackson was. He just had this unwavering work ethic and competitive fire and positive way about him. He kept coming back for more. Jackson still takes all of that to another level."


As a senior early in his second season as a starter for the Midshipmen, Perkins still looks trim, albeit chiseled at a listed 257 pounds. After playing a valuable role at defensive end a year ago in Navy's 11-2 season, he is back at end after beginning his senior year inside at defensive tackle.  


In second-year defensive coordinator Brian Newberry's scheme, Perkins is an interchangeable part that perfectly fits Newberry's preference for pressure, pre-snap movement and unpredictability that can resemble organized chaos.


Perkins can cross up opponents by setting the edge on one play, sliding down the line and filling an interior gap the next, or playing the middle and drawing two or three blockers in Navy's dime package. He is skilled at using his long arms and leverage to gain penetration into the backfield and is quick enough to shed a blocker and pressure the quarterback or disrupt a pass with those arms in the air.  


It was no surprise to his teammates that Perkins was voted a co-captain on defense this season. The senior from Barrington, Illinois checks all of the boxes.


Perkins stood out In numerous ways in Navy's September 19 win at Tulane, as the Mids staged the greatest comeback in program history by overcoming a 24-0 halftime deficit. Navy shut out the Green Wave in the second half and scored 27 unanswered points.

Perkins, who recorded two solo tackles and an assist that day, played a key role in silencing a Tulane ground game that had shredded the Mids for nearly 200 rushing yards in the first half. For stretches in that second half, Perkins seemed to live in Tulane's backfield.


When he wasn't on the field, Perkins prowled the sideline barking encouragement during the struggles in the first half, adding emotional fuel to Navy's comeback later.


It added up to a microcosm of the effect Perkins has every day with the Mids — in the locker room, position room, weight room, on the practice field. And it was very Perkins-like that, after being voted defensive player of the game in the Tulane victory, the winner was puzzled.


"I was surprised," says Perkins, who assumed the honor would go to junior linebacker and leading tackler Diego Fagot. "I mean, Diego made a ton of tackles again, what a game he had. I was more proud of our guys for the way they fought so hard. That win was one of the coolest three moments of my life. It felt like it did when we beat Army [last year]."

Talk to guys like Fagot, who are deeply impressed by what Perkins brings to Navy's table,  it goes beyond the ways Perkins uses his physical tools — for example, by engaging blockers long enough to allow Navy linebackers to crash rushing lanes and make tackles.  It comes back to how Perkins lifts up his guys, pushes them as hard as he pushes himself, and does it without a negative word. It comes back to the honest, hard-driving work he puts in, day after day after day.

"The dude is humble, to a fault," Fagot says. "He really does get just as excited by spilling the ball to me so I can make the play, as he does by making the play himself. Jackson is a servant leader. I think of the way he is always so ready to help other people out. It makes me play harder behind him."

"Whether he's dragging me to watch extra film or telling other guys to do extra workouts on days when they're not required, 'Perk' brings a positive attitude that is infectious. In terms of motivating guys, I've never seen him have an off day," Okafor says.

"It's hard to stand out amongst the caliber of people we have here at the academy," he adds. "Perk is one of the most consistent people I've ever met."

"You just want to be around Jackson," adds junior safety Mitch West. "He motivates with positive energy that is contagious, and the team feeds off of that energy."

"Jackson is the most unselfish guy on our whole football team," Newberry says. "He doesn't care if he makes the play or someone else does. But he understands that, as long as he does his job, plays are going to come to him or someone else. He embodies everything this program is about."

And to think Perkins, upon entering Barrington High School in 2013, had only begun to fancy himself a collegiate athlete — as a basketball player. Throughout much of elementary and middle school, Perkins says he was far more serious about outdoor pastimes such as skateboarding, dirt bike riding, hunting and fishing (which he still loves) than he was about sports.

He says that picture changed early in high school, when he got more serious about hoops after joining the Illinois Wolves on the AAU circuit. Perkins was a gangly forward, having already reached his current height of 6-6.

"I looked like a human pipe cleaner as a high school freshman, skinny as a rail," says Perkins, who recalls an exchange with former Wolves coach Frank Kaminsky, Jr. — the father of former All-American and national player of the year Frank Kaminsky III, who played at Wisconsin and currently plays in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns.

"I'm in my first practice at age 14. I go up for a layup, make it and I'm just happy I scored," Perkins says. "Coach Kaminsky walks up to me and says, 'Perkins, can you dunk the ball?' I say, 'Yes sir.' Frank says, 'Well, dunk the damn ball then! The game is above the rim now!

"That helped me start to acclimate to the new sports world," Perkins adds. "Sports wasn't a hobby anymore."

Perkins would go on to play three summers of AAU ball in high school. He also set a single-game record for rebounds at Barrington, where he captained the basketball team as a senior. But by his sophomore year, his casual approach to football had changed, starting with a promotion to the varsity for the postseason, following his only year with the junior varsity.

Perkins, who was a tight end as a freshman, had to change. The varsity team's spread offense had no place for a tight end. But then-Barrington defensive line coach Brady Smith, a retired 10-year NFL veteran defensive end (1996-2005) who had played four seasons with the New Orleans Saints and six with the Atlanta Falcons, had a definite plan.

Smith immediately began to convert Perkins into a defensive end. With his long and lean body, quickness and strength, Perkins presented the ideal raw talent. He would start for Barrington for his final three seasons and field more than a dozen college offers. As a senior, Perkins captained the squad and earned all-area honors.

"There are good defensive linemen of all shapes and sizes," Smith says. "It's all about leverage and being able to get into [an opposing lineman] and pressing them and keeping them off of you. I had to teach mechanics and leverage — stay long and stay low.

"Jackson was a tall body with no place to go, for the first week of practice as a freshman. I wanted him, because I could see he was going to be a good one. The physical stuff is obvious. But what struck me about him during his [varsity years] was his leadership quality that developed. Jackson values the hard way more. In the end, that's worth more to him."

That shows in Perkins' hobby approach. As a sophomore at Navy, he picked up his former roommate's guitar and asked if he could mess around, having never taken a lesson. Perkins liked the sounds he could make. He started using YouTube and other online means to teach himself notes and scales and chords. Before long, he was learning his way around the fretboard with some skill.

He has since become consumed with learning the songs of alternative country star Chris Stapleton and classic rock band Fleetwood Mac. He has mastered some Christmas tunes.


"I would play a little bit every night at first. Then I started becoming obsessed with it," says Perkins, who adds he had never played any instrument before. "If I've got time, I'll play for three hours a night."


His parents, Wally and Kathie, say that Jackson made the same type of steady commitment to tasks growing up. When it came time to sort out his college choices, they say their son took control of that decision from beginning to end and did not want to settle for an easy, comfortable pick.

Perkins did attract serious interest and offers — from Illinois, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico to MAC schools such as Miami-Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green and Western Michigan, to Ivy Leaguers Harvard and Yale.  

"When Jackson attended a football camp at Vanderbilt, a school he really liked, but didn't get an offer, he was devastated at first. But he was over it that night. He is very positive and very persistent," says Kathie Perkins. "He would picture himself at certain schools. He wanted to go to a school that he might not normally be able to get into.  

"He was looking for something different. He was looking for a difficult challenge," adds Wally Perkins. "We never officially visited anywhere."

But when the Perkins family took an official peek at Annapolis during the summer of his junior year, Jackson Perkins "got that look in his eye," as his mother recalls.

Perkins spent his entire, bruising freshman year on the scout team, but focused hard on one goal — earning the right to travel with the team to its 2018 season opener at Hawaii. He earned his wish. Perkins played on special teams primarily as a sophomore. By the following spring, he was positioning himself to break into the starting lineup.  

Perkins started 10 games at defensive end last year, when the Mids rolled to an 11-2 finish. He finished with 24 tackles, one sack and an interception.

He will graduate in May with a degree in quantitative economics. He aims to be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Among his highest, immediate priorities is helping the Mids get back on track against Temple and get some momentum rolling into the heart of his final season.

"It's been a tough, strange and challenging time," says Perkins, alluding to the Covid-19 pandemic that has altered football seasons everywhere.

"Going to back to spring, when we had no spring ball and didn't come back from spring break until July, all of that team bonding time was lost. It's not an excuse for losing. It's just true," he says. "But every day I'm with my brothers is another great day. We're taking on another challenge, and we've got lots of good football left in us."