On Lamar Jackson

And the Struggle of Black Quarterbacks Against the NFL’s Structural Racism

Lamar Jackson scored a total of 119 touchdowns in his 49 games for the University of Louisville Cardinals. He scored all of them came playing quarterback.

Twenty-five of those scores occurred before Louisville’s game against the second-ranked Florida State Seminoles on September 17th, 2016. Before that matchup, Louisville ranked tenth overall. Their status had everything to do with the game they played week before they squared against Florida State, meaning it had everything to do with their quarterback: Lamar Jackson. Because the week before Louisville played Florida State, Jackson embarrassed the Syracuse University Orange with his stunning and stylish efforts. Highlights of Lamar Jackson hurdling over the poor souls of the Syracuse defense became viral. His play made him a sensation, a sports meme, a face of a brand.

But, such flashes of brilliance, no matter how clickable or shareable — no matter how blinding — continue to be of little substance to many pundits. The established reputation of Florida State’s football team made them the favorites, and, alongside a Seminole victory, a more restrained, less stellar assessment of Lamar Jackson as a quarterback was considered to be a likely outcome of the game. Jackson had to play against his first “real” opponent, one with a “real” defense…