Lamar Jackson
Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. is an American professional football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2016, and was selected by the Ravens with the final pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. A two-time recipient of the NFL Most Valuable Player award and the all-time leader in quarterback rushing yards, Jackson is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, and by some analysts as one of the greatest dual-threat quarterback of all time.
Jackson became the Ravens' starting quarterback during his rookie season after an injury to Joe Flacco, leading the team to a division title and becoming the youngest quarterback to start a playoff game at 21. In his first full season, he led the NFL in touchdown passes and set the single-season rushing record for a quarterback, earning unanimous NFL MVP honors and becoming the fourth Black quarterback to win the award. In 2020, he became the first quarterback with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons and led the Ravens to a third straight playoff appearance. He secured a second MVP award in 2023 while taking the Ravens to their first AFC Championship Game since 2012. Jackson currently ranks first on the NFL's all-time regular-season career passer rating list. In 2024, Jackson set career highs in passing, became the all-time leader in quarterback rushing yards, and tied the record for most perfect passer rating games with four.
Early life
Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. was born to Felicia Jones and Lamar Jackson Sr. on January 7, 1997. He grew up in the center of an economically distressed section of Pompano Beach, Florida. Jackson's father died from a heart attack on the same day his grandmother died in 2005, when he was eight years old. Jackson, his younger brother, and two younger sisters were raised by their mother. According to Jackson, it was his mom that encouraged him to play football and was his first coach. Jackson says that at the age of 7 she put him and his brother through some very demanding workouts.Jackson attended public schools and played Pop Warner football in the same Florida league with future teammate Marquise Brown. When he was eight years old, Jackson could throw a football 20 yards. At age 11 Jackson won the South Florida FYFL Super Bowl. Jackson, his brother Jamar and the Northwest Broward Raiders beat the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes, who had been back-to-back champions with a long winning streak. Jackson was the starting quarterback for the Raiders; but he was also the team's safety and place kicker. The Raiders won 14–6 as Jackson threw two touchdowns and kicked the extra points.
High school
Jackson started his high school football career relatively late, not being on a team until his junior year of high school. Jackson attended Santaluces for his first two years of high school, before transferring to Boynton Beach High School in Boynton Beach, Florida. While there, Jackson was a successful read-option quarterback who could run and throw the ball equally well. He improved passing accuracy and decision-making by watching hours of film each week. In two years at Boynton Beach, Jackson threw for 2,263 yards and 31 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He also ran for 1,624 yards and 22 touchdowns, and had a quarterback rating of 102.7. A touchdown highlight Jackson scored against Village Academy went viral online, with The Palm Beach Posts Ryan DiPentima detailing:Without any passing options down field, the dynamic QB rolled to his right, pump faked at the line of scrimmage and then took off for the end zone. He pointed at a Village Academy defender while beating him to the edge and then cut up field. Then, as another defender came flying in to make a tackle at the goal line, he hit the. He just... stopped. As the defender flew by him, Jackson strutted into the end zone and threw his hands up.
Jackson's last high school game came against a nationally ranked Miami Central High School team during the first round of the 2014 Florida High School Football Playoff 6A tournament. Boynton Beach was soundly defeated 49–6, with Jackson throwing two interceptions. He also competed for his high school track team, posting a personal record of 11.45 seconds in the 100 meter dash in one track meet. Jackson was named the Lou Groza Palm Beach County High School Player of the Year in 2014.
Jackson was rated three stars by ESPN.com and 247Sports, but four stars by Rivals.com. Despite the disagreement by recruiting companies over his caliber, he received offers from both Power Five schools like Louisville, Florida, Auburn, and Clemson, and mid-major programs like Akron, Western Kentucky, and Marshall. All of the major recruiting companies listed Jackson as a top 20 dual-threat quarterback, with 247Sports ranking him as high as #12. Jackson's in-state ranking also varied greatly, from as high as #51 from Rivals to as low as #80 by ESPN. Jackson visited only four schools, and, after it appeared he might sign with Florida, Jackson ultimately committed to the University of Louisville. Head coach Bobby Petrino promised Jackson's mother that her son would be playing quarterback and nothing else.
High school statistics
College career
2015 season
As a freshman at Louisville in 2015, Jackson played in 12 games and made eight starts in the Cardinals' 8–5 season. One of those starts was Louisville's first game of the season against #6 Auburn. On the first play of the game, Jackson threw an interception and Louisville ultimately lost that game 31–24 with Jackson rushing for 106 yards. During the season, he completed 135-of-247 passes for 1,840 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions and ran for 960 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Jackson was named the MVP of the 2015 Music City Bowl after passing for 227 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for a Music City Bowl-record 226 yards and two touchdowns.2016 season
During the first game of his sophomore year, against the Charlotte 49ers, Jackson set a university record for total touchdowns with eight, all of them in the first half. Against Syracuse, Jackson completed 20 of 39 passes for 411 yards, a touchdown, and an interception to go along with 199 rushing yards and four touchdowns, with all five touchdowns coming in the first half as the Cardinals routed the Orange 62–28. One of those touchdowns came when he hurdled over a Syracuse defender into the end zone.Against #2 Florida State, Jackson completed 13-of-20 passes for 216 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in addition to 146 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He scored four of the five total touchdowns in the first half in a 63–20 rout of the Seminoles, the most points that the Seminoles had ever surrendered at the time. The game made Jackson the Heisman front runner, and gave the Cardinals a #3 ranking, their highest since 2006. Against Marshall, Jackson completed 24 of 44 passes for 417 yards and five touchdowns, and had 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Against #5 Clemson, Louisville's offense totaled 586 yards, with Jackson accounting for 295 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, and three total touchdowns. The Cardinals eventually lost the game 42–36. On December 8, Jackson was awarded the Walter Camp Award as the player of the year and the Maxwell Award as the best all-around player in college football.
On December 10, 2016, Jackson was selected as the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner over fellow finalists Deshaun Watson, Dede Westbrook, Jabrill Peppers, and Baker Mayfield. Jackson became Louisville's first Heisman Trophy winner in school history, and the youngest-ever recipient of the award at the age of 19 years and 337 days. He finished Louisville's 9–4 season with 3,543 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and nine interceptions to go along with 260 carries for 1,571 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
Aside from nationally recognized awards, Jackson also won prestigious awards within the University of Louisville. In 2017, he won a Louie for being named the Adidas High Performance Male Athlete of the Year for his outstanding sophomore campaign. Jackson also won a Louie for Play of the Year after the leap he made in the 2016 Syracuse game.
2017 season
When Jackson entered the 2017 season, his fan base and media had high expectations of his performance. College GameDay announced their return to the University of Louisville to host the opening matchup on September 16 between the returning National Champions, Clemson Tigers, and the Cardinals. Despite the 47–21 blowout the Tigers achieved, Jackson did not let the numbers affect his playing ability. His remarkable statistics for the season resulted in Jackson being a Heisman finalist for the 2017 season. He finished in third place in the Heisman voting, losing out to Baker Mayfield and Bryce Love. Jackson played in 13 games, finishing with 3,660 passing yards for 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to go along with 232 carries for 1,601 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in the Cardinals' 8–5 season.Following the 2017–18 school year, Jackson was named the men's ACC Athlete of the Year for all conference sports, sharing honors with women's winner Arike Ogunbowale of Notre Dame basketball.