With just 63 more yards Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will break Michael Vick’s rushing record. But he’s focused on winning
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson needs just 63 yards over four more games and he’ll break an NFL record not many thought would ever be broken. Yet with Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks seemingly on the horizon, Jackson is keeping a cool head about the situation and focused on his team’s goals above his own.
When asked how he felt about possibly breaking Vick’s record, Jackson was his usual humble self. Though Jackson said Vick was his football idol growing up and “it would be an honor” to break his record, Jackson focused on the Ravens picking up their 11th win.
This is just the latest showing of Jackson’s singular focus and humble outlook. While having perfect games and setting records is cool and all, Jackson has often followed the praise heaped upon him with talk about winning being more important. In this day and age with a franchise quarterback who could very well sign a record-breaking contract in a few short years thanks to his individual play, that attitude is pretty refreshing.
Don’t get me wrong, NFL players have been trained since childhood to give media-friendly non-answers. It’s why the guys who don’t give canned responses or allow their emotions to control their mouths tend to find themselves on the front pages of newspapers and websites. But I genuinely get the feeling these types of answers aren’t PR provided team-first talk but legitimately the way Jackson feels about this team and his teammates.
Just look back to when coach John Harbaugh was pumped up for Jackson on the sideline, giving him individual praise. When told by his coach he’s changed the game and that children would be wearing his jersey for the next two decades pretending to be him on sandlots around the country — something absolutely any player in any sport would love to hear and has likely aspired to since they were kids themselves — Jackson simply said “I can’t wait to see it when I get older, but right now, I gotta get to the Super Bowl.”
Who the hell, when in a candid moment in the heat of battle, says that to that type of praise? Seriously, how many franchise quarterbacks would brush off being called a living legend by their own coach to talk about the team winning a Super Bowl? Not many, and that’s part of Jackson’s charm as he reaches this level.
He has this innocent “awe shucks” attitude in spite of being arguably the most electric athlete in the sport of football in a generation. He doesn’t shy away from showing some fire, like you’ll see when he spikes the ball out of frustration when there’s a pre-snap penalty. He doesn’t pretend he doesn’t want to be the best player to ever play the game, like when he put in serious work this offseason to improve his play. But he continues to put his team and teammates above his individual play and accolades. When he’s had awe-inspiring games this season, Jackson has often recounted specific plays where he could have been better and helped a teammate out. Again, I’ll ask . . . Who does that after throwing five touchdowns in a game?
At a time when so many skill position players talk about “getting that bag” when they play well and even coaches are wearing stupid, cocky shirts intended to provoke and take attention away from the team, Jackson sees Baltimore’s success is more important. In spite of potentially not only breaking but shattering an NFL record that could stand for decades, Jackson doesn’t seem to see that as a way to get more money, earn more television commercials or drive his own fame. Instead, he sees that as a way for the team to reach their collective goal and everyone to get some of the praise.
They don’t often make em like Jackson and in spite of how he’d probably move beyond the compliment, he deserves special praise for his attitude and outlook. It’ll serve him well over his career and likely see him breaking even more records as he goes along while winning plenty of games.
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