The strange case of Lamar Jackson

I am not Lamar Jackson’s biggest fan. I readily admit that he is an amazing athlete and the quarterback of my hometown team, the Baltimore Ravens. But is he really that great, or are the accolades flowing his way coming from another place?

Recently, Jackson was voted the National League MVP for the second time. I do not deny that he has the regular-season statistics to justify that honor. What’s not to love about Lamar, then?

When the lights get brighter in the postseason, Lamar has a history of stinking up the place. Trent Dilfer, the first quarterback to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory, owns a postseason record of five wins and one loss. Joe Flacco, the second Raven quarterback to win a Lombardi Trophy for Baltimore, possesses a postseason record of ten wins and six losses. Lamar Jackson, who has never led his team to the Super Bowl, has a dismal postseason record of two wins and four losses.

Lamar has always had his doubters, and that number is growing. He was drafted in the first round of his draft class but near the end of that cycle. Why was that? When Lamar not long ago made himself available for free agency, no other teams were found beating down his door. Hmmm.

Image: Lamar Jackson. YouTube screen grab.

The owner of the Ravens, Steve Bisciotti, and the Ravens coach, John Harbaugh, are heavily invested in winning another Big Game. They thought this was their year until Lamar melted again under the big lights in the AFC playoffs. Do they secretly dream now of trading Lamar for Patrick, Josh, Joe, CJ, or Trevor? How many more times will they watch Lamar crumble under postseason pressure before admitting he won’t get them where they want to go?

Some say the Ravens have spent more to make Jackson a winner than the neocons in Washington have spent our tax dollars to make Ukraine victorious. But as Harold Abrahams’ coach noted in the film Chariots of Fire, “I can’t put in what God left out.”

Lamar still dreams of hoisting a Lombardi over his head and quieting his detractors. Does Lamar understand that his biggest critic is in between his ears? Many a young man in America dreams of winning a Lombardi someday, but those are dreams. Math is not my bailiwick, but I know the odds are very small.

Since this is Black History Month, I want to say the quiet part out loud: Why do two Raven Superbowl winners who are white get no respect in Baltimore while a very talented black quarterback with a bad habit of choking under pressure gets treated like he could be the greatest of all time?

Ned Cosby, a prolific contributor to American Thinker, is a former pastor, veteran Coast Guard officer, and a retired career public high school teacher. His newest novel Outcry is a love story exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to report and discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people. This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real. Cosby has also written Recollections from My Father’s House, tracing his own odyssey from 1954 to the present. For more info, visit Ned Cosby.