DETROIT – Michigan cornerback Marlin Jackson could be pulling in a hefty sum of money at an NFL training camp right now. Instead, the All-America candidate decided to return to the University of Michigan for his senior season.

And Jackson’s reward: His teammates voted him, along with offensive lineman David Baas, a team captain last week.

“It’s a step that shows the type of person I am,” Jackson told reporters at Schembechler Hall on Wednesday, “to know that my teammates look at me in that way as a leader and a person to look up to.”

Jackson’s teammates should be thankful he decided to return.

The senior was an All-America cornerback in 2002, and after playing safety last season, he returns to his favorite position on the outside.

He is a preseason candidate for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation’s top defensive back.

Jackson should be the main ingredient in an all-star secondary that returns three of four starters.

“It is very important to us that he returned,” said Markus Curry, another returning starter at cornerback.

“He puts all the pieces together by being out there on the left corner. It’s good to look over and have him on the other side of me.”

But Jackson realizes that he and Baas won’t be the only ones called on to lead. “There is more than just two leaders,” he said.

“Every senior has a role to play, it is not just me and Baas. Everybody speaks up when things need to be said.”

The third returnee is senior safety Ernest Shazor, who is also on the Thorpe watch list.

Another obvious senior leader is wide receiver Braylon Edwards. Like Jackson, Edwards took a close look at the NFL. But both decided they didn’t want their U-M careers to end with that bitter defeat by USC in the Rose Bowl.

Their decisions made coach Lloyd Carr smile.

“They make everybody around them better and I think that’s the mark of a truly great football player,” Carr said at the team’s media day earlier this month.

“When the season’s over I always talk to some of the guys that are leaving. One of the remarks a year ago … is what a great job Marlin Jackson did encouraging and continuing to try and be a leader on our football team in those four or five weeks when he was out. I think that’s what you want.”

Jackson hasn’t always been a picture-perfect example for his teammates. He was suspended for the first game of the 2003 season after a misdemeanor assault conviction in the summer. Before that, he received a minor-in-possession ticket. He also missed time with hamstring and quadriceps injuries.

But Jackson knows that now, more than ever before, he’ll have to represent U-M in a positive way.

“My style of leadership is to lead by example,” he said. “If there is something that needs to be said, then I’ll say it, but more so lead by example and be someone the guys can look up to.”

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AP-NY-08-25-04 2036EDT