Lamar Jackson

Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL).

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 8 years old.

Jackson and his younger brother and two younger sisters were raised by their mother.

He attended public schools and played Pop Warner football in the same Florida league with future teammate Marquise Brown.

When he was 8 years old, Jackson could throw a football 20 yards.

Jackson started his high school football career relatively late, not being on a team until his junior year of high school.

He 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.

Additionally, he 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 Post's 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 breaks. 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 (Louisville, Florida, Nebraska, and Mississippi State), 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.

As a freshman at Louisville in 2015 (he was a communications major ), 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 completed 135-of-247 passes for 1,840 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions and ran for 960 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.

He 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.

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, one touchdown, and one interception, with 199 rushing yards and four rushing 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.

He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, where he won the Heisman Trophy during his sophomore year, and was selected by the Ravens as the final first round pick of the 2018 NFL draft.

Jackson became the Ravens' starting quarterback in his rookie season after an injury to incumbent Joe Flacco and clinched a division title with the team, also becoming the youngest NFL quarterback to start a playoff game at age 21.

The next year, Jackson set the single-season record for quarterback rushing yards and led the league in touchdown passes, while helping the Ravens obtain their conference's top seed.

For his success, he became the second unanimous Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the fourth African-American quarterback to win the award.

Jackson followed up his MVP campaign by becoming the first quarterback to have multiple seasons with 1,000 rushing yards and led the Ravens to a third consecutive playoff appearance.

Following the 2022 season, he signed a five-year contract worth $260 million, making him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time of the signing.

In 2023, Jackson led the Ravens to the top seed in the conference and won NFL MVP for the second time in five seasons.