How A 3 Star Recruit Became An NFL Superstar

throughout his life Lamar Jackson has been forced to overcome more grief and suffering than most people can even begin to imagine not only that but he's had to prove countless haters wrong over and over again this is the story of Lamar's Journey from an overlooked three-star recruit to an NFL superstar born and raised in a poverty-stricken area of Pompano Beach Florida the only part of Lamar's childhood coming easy to him was football football was always a part of Lamar's life as he and his three siblings would often play football with their dad in the yard from day one two things were clear Lamar was a daddy's boy and he was special at the age of seven in his first season playing organized football Jackson was named MVP which he went on to win for every youth football team he ever played on just when it seems like things were finally starting to go Lamar's way and he had found true happiness Jackson was struck by tragedy when he was just eight years old his father died from a heart attack then to make an already unbelievably sad event somehow worse Lamar's grandmother passed away on the same day from that moment forward Lamar relied on his mother for everything she put food on his plate and clothes on his back while also coaching him up on the Gridiron it was her belief in him that helped him get to where he is today when people wanted to make him a wide receiver or defensive back at a young age because of his speed she was the one insisting that he stay at quarterback reflecting on her impact in a player's Tribune article Lamar said a lot of people helped me get better when I was young but the best coach I've ever had was also my first one mom and I'm not saying that just because she looked out for me and encouraged me to pursue football and all that stuff I mean she actually made me grind to get better as a high schooler Jackson was going viral on social media putting up big numbers and stat sheets and receiving offers from Power five colleges but it wasn't enough because he was still touted and disrespected Jackson played two years of varsity football at Boynton Beach High School starring as a dual threat quarterback who could beat defenses through the air and on the ground he threw for 2263 yards and 31 touchdowns for a 102.7 quarterback rating while also rushing for 1 624 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns Lamar's abilities helped him become a social media sensation on a couple of occasions one of the highlights still makes its rounds on the internet today where he scrambles around in the pocket evades multiple Defenders and takes off down the sideline before stopping on a dime and letting a Defender fly past him as he casually strolls into the end zone plays like this look like they were straight out of a video game with how easily Lamar toyed with defenses showing just how special he could be despite the impressive stats and millions of YouTube views ESPN and 24 7 Sports rated Lamar is only a three-star recruit and ESPN had him as just the 80th best player in Florida these recruiting analysts thought he relied too much on his athleticism and that this would catch up to him when he was going against bigger and better competition a handful of Big Time schools saw past these ratings and offered him scholarships such as Louisville Florida Auburn and Clemson for a while it looked like Lamar was going to stay in his home state and head to the University of Florida but ultimately he committed to Louisville reportedly a big selling point for the Cardinals was head coach Bobby Petrino promising Lamar's mom that her son wouldn't be forced to change positions from the moment he arrived at Louisville Lamar was determined to show those recruiters that they were wrong and his game would translate to the next level and Coach Petrino almost immediately gave Jackson the opportunity to do so as a freshman Lamar played in 12 Games Starting In eight of them which is uncommon for a three-star QB recruit to do at a power 5 School Jackson made the most of it demonstrating that his Elite athleticism was far from exaggerated he threw for 1840 yards and 12 touchdowns while also running for 960 yards and 11 touchdowns is 960 rushing yards set a School record for the most by a QB in one season heading into his sophomore season Lamar had plenty of confidence and it was obvious from game one that this was going to be a season to remember and the season opener against UNC Charlotte he set a School record for total touchdowns in a game with eight scoring all eight of them in the first half it was just the beginning as Jackson went on an absolute tear the rest of the year he finished the season with 3543 passing yards 30 passing touchdowns 1571 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns that's over 5 000 total yards and 50 touchdowns thanks to these video game-like numbers and numerous SportsCenter Top 10 appearances Lamar won the Heisman Trophy college football most prestigious award after a season like that expectations were Sky High for his Junior campaign and with the pressure on Jackson did not disappoint he broke the 5 000 yard Milestone again with 3660 passing and 1601 rushing yards while adding in 27 passing and 18 rushing touchdowns Lamar had such an outstanding year that he was named the men's ACC athlete of the Year for all conference Sports feeling like there was nothing left to prove with his collegiate career Lamar for went his final year of Eligibility and declared for the 2018 NFL draft heading into the draft Lamar couldn't escape a narrative that had followed him ever since he was a young kid despite coming off two of the most dominant back-to-back seasons in college football history he still had haters who seemed to be praying for his downfall after throwing for over 7 000 yards in just two seasons the experts still questioned his passing abilities some of them even went as far to suggest he switched positions and play wide receiver NFL teams must have been listening to this noise as Jackson fell in the first round of the draft while this was happening cameras showed a distraught Lamar with his mom backstage in The Green Room it was a fitting and Powerful image as one of the few people who never gave up on him while others often did was right by his side then after a painfully long wait to hear his name called and watching four other quarterbacks get drafted before him the Ravens finally traded up to take Jackson with the 30-second overall pick the final pick of the first round like his mom and his college coach Baltimore saw something in Lamar that made them believe in him even when others seemingly didn't want to although he was a first round pick Lamar still had to wait for the chance to prove he belonged to the rest of the league as a rookie in 2018 Jackson didn't get his first career start until week 11 against the Bengals when Joe Flacco got hurt in Baltimore's previous game his haters were ready to say he wasn't ready for the moment until Lamar went and bawled out he led the Ravens to a win over their division rival while throwing for 150 yards and rushing for 117 a franchise record for a quarterback in a single game after this Jackson never looked back leading his Squad to six wins in seven games to end the regular season and clinch a playoff spot even though he only started seven games Lamar still led the league in quarterback rushing yards with 695 while the Ravens fell in a wild card game to the Chargers in a tight 23-17 contest Jackson became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to start a playoff game and had officially put the league on notice having shown flashes of Brilliance as a rookie 2019 was Lamar's year to show what he was fully made of and that his less than half a season was more than a flute the Ravens also had a full offseason to design a new system specifically for Jackson who could not possibly have a more different playing style from Joe Flacco in week one Lamar was on a mission and went off against the Dolphins throwing for 324 yards and five touchdowns while becoming the youngest player ever to achieve a perfect passer rating he followed up that historic performance with another one against the Cardinals in week two by becoming the first player in league history to pass for more than 250 yards and rush for 120 yards in a single game game this fast start to the season gave Jackson a tremendous amount of confidence for the rest of the year he was nearly Unstoppable as he led the Ravens to a 14-2 record even without playing Baltimore's final regular season game Lamar finished with over 3 000 passing yards and more than 1 000 rushing yards while scoring a combined 43 touchdowns he led the league in touchdown passes and quarterback rating in addition to Breaking the NFL record for the most single season rushing yards by a QB in the Ravens divisional round matchup against the Titans Jackson put the team on his back as he threw for 365 yards and rushed for 143 more becoming the first player to throw for 300 plus yards and rush for 100 plus yards in a playoff game but it still wasn't enough as Tennessee upset Baltimore despite the disappointing end to the season for the team Lamar became the second player ever to unanimously win MVP and the second youngest player to win the award after a season as special as that one things were different for once everybody expected 2022 to be the same or better for Jackson but that might have been a a bit of an unrealistic ask opposing teams were now going out of their way to game plan around him to try and minimize his impact as a result Lamar's numbers dipped some as he finished with 2757 passing yards and 1005 rushing yards with 33 combined touchdowns while less than the year before Jackson still helped the Ravens to an 11-5 record and play off birth he also became the first quarterback to have multiple seasons surpassing 1 000 rushing yards doing so in just two full seasons as a starter in the postseason Lamar and the Ravens got their revenge on the Titans in the Wild Card round as Jackson claimed his first playoff Victory then facing the bills in the divisional round Jackson was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a concussion as Baltimore lost 17-3 while 2021 was supposed to be Lamar's Revenge season fate had other plans through 11 games Jackson had the Ravens sitting eight and four atop the AFC he was also in the MVP conversation having already passed for more yards than he did in all of 2020 and Well on his way to Breaking the thousand yard rushing Mark for the Third straight time but in the first quarter of a week 14 loss to the Browns Lamar suffered an ankle injury from being tackled after throwing the ball as he stayed sitting on the ground after the play the Ravens knew that their season would come down to the diagnosis unfortunately it was a severe enough injury that it forced him to sit out the rest of the game and the season without Lamar the Ravens lost their final five games and missed the playoffs it was far from the year that Lamar had wanted but he was so impactful and respected that he managed to make Pro Bowl while missing a major part of the season now after having started only 49 career games Lamar is already seventh all time in QB rushing yards with 3673 showing just how absurdly good he is at running the ball while he is Elite and making Defenders Miss there's one thing that has evaded Lamar throughout his career and continues to be go-to material for his haters to use his lack of post-season success but if Lamar's story tells you anything is that he has a knack for proving the haters wrong and that's scary for the rest of the NFL [Music] thank you

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 840,558

Keywords: NFL, Lamar Jackson, baltimore ravens, Nonstop Sports

Id: irmhDfpfPc8

Length: 10min 26sec (626 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 25 2022