There is an awestruck, almost mythical way that folks discuss Lamar Jackson. Teammates, coaches, and fans talk about the Baltimore Ravens' incandescent 27-year-old quarterback like he's the football version of Paul Bunyan, if Bunyan ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. That's because Jackson tends to do things on the football field that people haven't seen before. Like, say, throwing a football 100 yards, the whole length of the field-a feat he managed way back in high school, years before he'd become a two-time NFL MVP.
That's true, Jackson confirms. He and some teammates had been goofing around at girls' flag football practice, chucking the ball back and forth, and the hype from all the onlookers steadily increased as each pass from their gifted classmate's arm spiraled further and further through the air. Jackson was geeked too. I'm like, Damn, he remembers. I'm shocking myself! I didn't know I could throw it this far. Eventually, the group dared him to move back even further-to uncork one from the end zone and see how far it might go. Bingo. I cock back and throw it, I see it flying and I'm like, Damn! Goal line to goal line. Or the time that, as a freshman at the University of Louisville, he ran into local legend Rajon Rondo, the roadrunner NBA point guard-and promptly beat him in a foot race. I ran past his ass! Jackson hollers. He was about to blow a gasket. That kind of started the legend of Lamar, says Bobby Petrino, his college coach.
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