He’ll fight it.

He has eight times previously, but always loses.

Keith Jackson, six-time NFL All-Pro, winner of a Super Bowl ring with the Green Bay Packers as a tight end, will cry tonight.

So will his wife, Melanie, and, for that matter, so will almost every employee of Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids as well as the majority of those attending the graduation.

Maybe not the actual graduates; they are very excited about their futures now, thanks in large part to all those people who will be crying tears of joy.

Not one of the 49 touchdowns Jackson scored with the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers mean as much to him as what happens tonight.

Jackson, No. 88 in the program, is No. 1 in touching lives in our state, and tonight he will cast the spotlight on 25 teenagers who five years ago came to the fork in the road and chose P. A. R. K. over all the temptations that exist in our society.

The two-time All-American at Oklahoma — no easy feat for a tight end when the Sooners were running the option — is more than the founder of P. A. R. K. He is the heart and soul.

The Super Bowl, a national championship at OU, induction into the College Football Hall of Fame (2001 ) or any other honor does not mean as much to Jackson as watching these kids graduate, especially those who go on to college and get their degree.

In fact, the only time these blues have seen him happier than when he is hugging one of his college graduates was the time his son, Keith Jackson Jr., now a defensive tackle with the San Diego Chargers, intercepted a pass while playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown.

A dash to the broadcast booth, where Jackson has become an entertaining and informative analyst for the Arkansas Razorback Sports Network, found him with tears in his eyes and a smile so big his son could have seen it from the field.

No doubt other former professional athletes make a big difference in our state, too. Corliss Williamson, Derek Fisher, Joe Johnson and Joe Kleine are just four guys who have invested in central Arkansas.

Shawn and Stacy Andrews are in the process of making Little Rock their permanent home and are digging in for the long haul, too.

Yet, at this point no former professional athlete has invested more in the lives of young people than Jackson, who opened the doors of P. A. R. K. in 1996 with just 25 students.

Tonight will be his ninth P. A. R. K. graduation with a total of around 200 who came into the program with bad grades, many with bad attitudes, and five years later walked out with confidence and the knowledge they are much smarter and more intelligent than they knew when they started the program.

It takes a commitment from everyone, but it is a life-changing commitment for most.

P. A. R. K. has come a million miles without ever moving.

Years ago, Jackson jumped at the offer to take over the loan on the tennis-health club on Geyer Springs Road. To start, it was cleaned and painted and later a $ 6 million grant from the Don Reynolds Foundation was used to make over the facility.

Jackson has personally raised the bulk of the money over the years, calling on old and new friends, and almost every single person who has ever signed on to help is still with him and the program.

Jackson’s past might be filled with sports accomplishments. But from the day P. A. R. K. started, it has been all about academics first.

If a student’s grades are up to par and their daily work is finished, then they can leave the state-of-the-art computer lab and adjourn to the back of the building where there are an assortment of athletic opportunities from basketball (three courts ) to a weight room.

Tonight is about the celebration of 25 more young people whose lives have been touched in a very special way, and before the night ends, there will be a river of tears, all of them joyful.