Youngest player to ever win the Heisman trophy. Youngest player in NFL history with multiple five passing touchdown games. Most rushing yards in a season for an NFL quarterback. First player to ever rush for 1,000 yards in a season while also throwing 30 touchdowns. The MVP front-runner. Not to mention, follower of God.
Lamar Jackson has been on an historic tear this season. Very few saw it coming, other than Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh who hinted at the beginning of the season that their offense was going to “revolutionize” the game.
And revolutionize it he has. Unlike anything ever seen before.
On Wednesday, Jackson pulled back the curtain on how he is able to approach such success with the attitude that he does. He was asked, “Lamar, you talk about blocking out the noise, you don’t listen to the good or the bad, is there something or someone that keeps you humble in your life?”
“The Lord,” said Jackson matter-of-factly. "I give Him all His praise, the glory, the honor."
Jackson fully recognized that he could just as easily be doing anything else with his life and said he talks to God throughout the day, thanking and appreciating Him. He went on, “When you feel like you’re bigger than the Lord, that’s when all that success dies, it goes away. You’ve got to let Him know that He’s the reason that you’re having that much success. I appreciate that from Him.”
It is difficult to believe that not so long ago he was the last player sitting in the green room of the NFL Draft for the first round. Passed on by every team in the league (including the Ravens earlier in the first round) and told he should be a running back, Jackson’s story will undoubtedly be one of regret for many NFL front office personnel.
Yet, throughout this entire season, Jackson has kept his head down and worked to be great at every turn. In a society that contains so many stars adopting victim mentalities and “clapping back” at critiques, Jackson has stayed quiet. He shows up to press conferences in a t-shirt that says simply, “Nobody cares. Work harder!”
The most he ever addressed early criticism was after this season’s opening game (where he threw for 324 yards and a franchise record-tying five touchdowns) in his post-game press conference.
A reporter asked, “Lamar, you said pretty much all offseason that you were gonna throw the ball. Do you think you proved to people that you were throwing the ball this year?”
Jackson responded, “Probably not, but not bad for a running back.”
The Lamar Jackson experience: electric quarterback on the field, God-fearing professional off of it.
