Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL).
He played college football at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy during his sophomore year, and was selected by the Ravens as the final first-round pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Jackson became the Ravens’ starting quarterback in his rookie season after an injury to incumbent Joe Flacco and clinched a division title with the team, also becoming the youngest NFL quarterback to start a playoff game at age 21.
The next year, Jackson set the season record for quarterback rushing yards and led the league in touchdown passes while bringing the Ravens to the top seed of the American Football Conference (AFC).
For his success, he became the second unanimous Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the fourth African-American quarterback to win the award.
Jackson followed up his MVP campaign by becoming the first quarterback to have multiple 1,000 yards rushing seasons and led the Ravens to a third consecutive playoff appearance.
On April 30, 2021, the Ravens exercised the fifth-year option on Jackson’s contract, worth a guaranteed $23 million for the 2022 season.
Jackson was diagnosed with COVID-19 around the start of training camp, the second time he had contracted the virus.
Against the Browns in Week 14, Jackson suffered an ankle injury after being hit by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the first quarter and was ruled out during the 22–24 loss.
He missed the remainder of the game and would ultimately miss the rest of the season. Jackson was named to his second Pro Bowl after the first coming off his unanimous MVP season.