Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals , winning the Heisman Trophy in , and was selected by the Ravens with the final pick in the first round of the NFL draft. A two-time recipient of the NFL Most Valuable Player MVP award and the all-time leader in quarterback rushing yards, Jackson is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, and 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 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 , he became the first quarterback with multiple 1,yard rushing seasons and led the Ravens to a third straight playoff appearance. In , 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. Jackson's father died from a heart attack on the same day his grandmother died in , when he was eight years old.
Jackson, his younger brother, and two younger sisters were raised by their mother. Jackson attended public schools and played Pop Warner football in the same Florida league with future teammate Marquise Brown. 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 14β6 as Jackson threw two touchdowns and kicked the extra points. Jackson started his high school football career relatively late, not being on a team until his junior year of high school. He improved passing accuracy and decision-making by watching hours of film each week. He also ran for 1, yards and 22 touchdowns, and had a quarterback rating of 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.
