Shoutout to the one and only KyleKuzma999 for helping me, a lot 😭 this took a long time. (a month 😭)

From the moment he got drafted and stepped onto an NFL field Lamar Jackson didn’t just play qb, he played rb. As one of the greatest dual threat quarterbacks to ever play the game for the ravens and 2 MVPs here is THE greatest article ever written about Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. 🤯

Lamar Jackson was born on January 7, 1997, to Felicia Jones and Lamar Jackson Sr. He grew up in Golden Acres, an area of Pompano Beach, Florida. During elementary school, he became close friends future rapper Kodak Black. When Jackson was seven, his mother introduced him to football and became his first coach, putting both him and his brother through hard workouts that would eventually shape his athletic abilities.

In 2005, tragedy struck when Jackson was just eight years old. His father died of a heart attack on the same day his grandmother passed away :( After those devastating losses, his mother raised Lamar and his siblings on her own. Even as a child and these loses Jacksons talent was obvious. By age eight he could already throw a football 20 yards.

As a young athlete, Jackson played Pop Warner football in the same South Florida league as future teammate Marquise Brown. At 11 years old, he started at quarterback, safety, and placekicker for the Northwest Broward Raiders. He led the team, which also had his brother Jamar if you were wondering, to a 14–6 victory over the I’m the time two time defending champion Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes in the South Florida FYFL Super Bowl. Jackson threw two touchdown passes and kicked the extra points in the championship win. Despite his success in youth football, Jackson didn't begin playing high school football until his junior year. He attended Santaluces High School as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Boynton Beach High School, where he then and only then joined the football team.

At Boynton Beach, Jackson quickly made himself as one of Florida's most exciting quarterbacks. Equally dangerous with his arm and his legs, he spent countless hours studying game film to improve his accuracy and decision making. Over two seasons, he threw for 2,263 yards and 31 touchdowns with only nine interceptions while rushing for 1,624 yards and 22 touchdowns, finishing with a 102.7 quarterback rating!

One of his most memorable high school highlights came against Village Academy, when he froze a defender near the goal line before casually walking into the end zone. The play quickly gained attention online. Jackson also competed in track and field, recording a personal-best time of 11.45 seconds in the 100-meter dash. His high school career ended with a first round playoff loss to nationally ranked Miami Central High School, but his outstanding season still earned him the 2014 Lou Groza Palm Beach County High School Player of the Year award.

As a 3 star recruit (same as my brothers test score), opinions on Jackson were different. ESPN and 247Sports rated him as a three star prospect, while Rivals gave him four stars. Even with those differences, every major recruiting service considered him one of the nation's top dual threat quarterbacks. He received scholarship offers from schools including Akron, Marshall, Western Kentucky, Florida, Auburn, Clemson, and Louisville. After visiting only four schools (Louisville, Florida, Nebraska, and Mississippi State, hey that’s Dak college) and coming close to committing to Florida, Jackson chose Louisville. A big factor in his decision was head coach Bobby Petrino's promise to Jackson's mother that her son would play quarterback and not be asked to switch positions.

Jackson enrolled at Louisville in 2015 as a communications major and began his freshman season as the backup to Reggie Bonnafon. He made his college debut against sixth in the nation ranked Auburn, initially taking snaps at running back before moving to quarterback and leading the team with 106 rushing yards. Although Louisville lost 31–24, Jackson immediately showcased his ability. He earned his first collegiate start the following week against Houston but struggled with two interceptions. Louisville opened the season 0–3 before Jackson helped turn things around. Against Samford, he accounted for three touchdowns and rushed for 184 yards to earn Louisville its first win of the season. After missing one game because of injury, he returned later in the season and delivered another standout performance against Kentucky, finishing with three total touchdowns and 186 rushing yards. Jackson capped off his freshman year by leading Louisville to a victory over Texas A&M in the 2015 Music City Bowl. He was named the game's MVP after throwing for 227 yards and rushing for a bowl-record 226 more in a 27–21 win. He finished the season with 1,840 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns, 960 rushing yards, and 11 rushing touchdowns.

Now before anyone says I'm glazing, yes. I am. 😭 And I'm not stopping anytime soon. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's writing essays about Lamar Jackson like he's the greatest thing to happen since football was invented.

Even though I only started glazing a couple days ago, when rookie Lamar Jackson took over as the Ravens' starting quarterback, the entire NFL got hit with the biggest "oh no im cooooooked" moment. He went 6-1 as a starter, 6-1. Dragged Baltimore into the playoffs, and had grown men chasing air while he casually ran past them. Defenses spent all week making a game plan just for my football goat... and then watched him ignore it completely. They said he should switch to running back, and he responded by making the playoffs as a rookie. That's the most Jackson response ever.

That rookie season was only the beginning.

In 2019, Lamar Jackson didn't just become the Ravens' starting quarterback. He became a PROBLEM. Baltimore went 14–2, finished with the best record in the NFL, and Jackson somehow made playing quarterback look like a cheat code. He threw for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns while rushing for 1,206 yards and 7 more touchdowns. Yes, you read that correctly. 😭

Lamar wasn't simply running when a play broke down, either. Baltimore built an entire offense around his ability to destroy defenses with both his arm and his legs. Defensive coordinators had to prepare for a quarterback who could outrun linebackers, make defensive backs look silly, and then casually launch a 50-yard touchdown pass the next play.

And somehow, he made it look EASY.

The 2019 season ended with Jackson becoming the unanimous NFL MVP. He received every first-place MVP vote, becoming the fourth unanimous MVP in NFL history at the time. He also became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards while winning MVP.

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Oh, and he also led the league in touchdown passes.

A RUNNING BACK WHO LED THE NFL IN PASSING TOUCHDOWNS.

I genuinely don't know what else you want from this man. 😭

Jackson also made history with his rushing ability. His 1,206 rushing yards broke Michael Vick's previous single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback. And Lamar didn't just break it by a little bit. He absolutely obliterated it.

The Ravens entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and hosted the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round. Unfortunately, the Ravens' magical season came to an end with a 28–12 loss. Lamar threw for 365 yards and rushed for 143 yards, but Baltimore struggled to finish drives and turned the ball over three times.

Despite the disappointing ending, there was no denying what Lamar had accomplished.

He had gone from a player some people questioned as a passer to the unanimous MVP of the entire NFL.

And somehow, people STILL weren't convinced.

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Then came 2020.

Lamar followed up his MVP season with another ridiculous year, throwing for 2,757 yards and 26 touchdowns while rushing for 1,005 yards and 7 touchdowns. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Read that again.

MULTIPLE.

1,000-YARD.

RUSHING.

SEASONS.

AS A QUARTERBACK.

At this point, calling Lamar a dual-threat quarterback almost feels disrespectful. He's not a quarterback who can run.

He's a quarterback who makes the entire defense ask:

"WHO THE HELL IS SUPPOSED TO STOP THIS GUY?"

The Ravens returned to the playoffs, where Lamar finally got his first postseason victory against the Titans, throwing for 179 yards and rushing for 136 yards in a 20–13 win. Baltimore's season eventually ended against Buffalo in the Divisional Round, but Lamar had officially established himself as one of the most dangerous players in football.

Then came 2021.

And unfortunately, football decided to remind us that even Lamar Jackson is human.

Injuries and inconsistency limited him to 12 games, but he still managed to throw for 2,882 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 767 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Ravens missed the playoffs.

But if you thought Lamar was finished, you clearly hadn't been paying attention.

In 2022, Lamar started the season looking like he was on another MVP campaign. Through his first three games, he had thrown for 10 touchdowns and rushed for another 2, putting up absolutely ridiculous numbers.

Then injuries struck again.

A knee injury ended his season after 12 games, and Baltimore's offense struggled without him. The Ravens made the playoffs anyway, but Lamar was unable to return.

And then came 2023.

This is where the story gets ridiculous.

Lamar returned healthy and immediately reminded everyone why he was one of the most terrifying quarterbacks in football. He led Baltimore to a 13–4 record, the best record in the AFC, while throwing for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns.

But the biggest difference was how much his passing had evolved.

Lamar wasn't simply relying on his athleticism anymore. His pocket presence had improved. His accuracy had improved. His ability to read defenses had improved.

And somehow, while becoming a better passer, he was STILL Lamar freaking Jackson.

He rushed for 821 yards and 5 touchdowns, making defenders choose between getting destroyed by his arm or getting destroyed by his legs.

The Ravens entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and defeated Houston in the Divisional Round. Lamar threw for two touchdowns and rushed for two more, leading Baltimore to a 34–10 victory.

Then came the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Baltimore ultimately lost 17–10, ending their season one game short of the Super Bowl.

But Lamar's regular season was undeniable.

He was named NFL MVP for the second time.

That's right.

TWO-TIME MVP LAMAR JACKSON.

The kid from Pompano Beach who was once questioned about whether he should even play quarterback had now won TWO MVP AWARDS.

And somehow, the funniest part is that he did it without needing to become somebody else. He didn't become a traditional pocket passer. He didn't stop running. He didn't stop being Lamar. He simply became a better version of himself.

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By this point, Lamar Jackson had completely changed the way people viewed the quarterback position. Before Lamar, the idea of a quarterback rushing for over 1,000 yards seemed almost impossible. After Lamar did it twice, people started asking why more quarterbacks weren't doing it. Defenses changed. Offenses changed. Quarterback evaluations changed. And Lamar was right in the middle of it.

The Ravens knew exactly what they had. That's why they eventually gave their franchise quarterback a massive five-year extension worth $260 million, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time.

PAY THE DANG MAN.

Because Lamar Jackson isn't just a quarterback.

He's not just a runner.

He's not just a passer.

He's not just an MVP.

He's not just a Raven.

He's one of the most unique athletes the NFL has ever seen.

From throwing footballs 20 yards at eight years old, to playing quarterback, safety AND kicker as an 11-year-old, to becoming a three-star recruit, to winning the Heisman Trophy at Louisville, to becoming the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, to taking over the Ravens as a rookie, to becoming a unanimous MVP, to becoming a two-time MVP...

Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. has done it all. HE HAS 2 MVPs. 😭

At this point, I'm not even going to pretend this article is unbiased.

I'm glazing.

I'm fully aware. There is no journalistic integrity left in this document.

If Lamar Jackson throws a 12-yard completion, I'm calling it the greatest pass in NFL history.

If Lamar runs for 8 yards, I'm calling it the greatest rushing attempt ever recorded. If Lamar scrambles for a first down, I'm probably writing a 900-word paragraph about it.

Because when you watch Lamar Jackson play football, you aren't watching a normal quarterback. You're watching an athlete who made an entire generation rethink what a quarterback could be. The kid who was told he might need to change positions became a quarterback.

The quarterback who was questioned as a passer became an MVP. The MVP who was doubted again became a two-time MVP. And the man who has spent his entire career making defenders look completely lost?

He's still Lamar Jackson. Still running. Still throwing. Still making defenders chase shadows. Still making defensive coordinators lose sleep. Still making me glaze him like my life depends on it.

And honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way 💜

So if anyone asks me who Lamar Jackson is, I have a very simple answer:

He's Lamar Jackson. QB. RB. MVP. And one of the greatest players to ever put on a pair of cleats.

And yes...

I am STILL glazing. 🤯