Those same qualities have been on display over the past two weeks in Minnesota, where Jackson has stepped back into the public spotlight as an activist in support of George Floyd, his longtime friend from the Houston area who was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis while in police custody. “People have been telling me, ‘Jack, you’re suiting up for your biggest game ever,’ ” Jackson said in a telephone interview. “When I get texts like that, it moves me and excites me.”