Lamar Jackson

Early life

Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. was born to Felicia Jones and Lamar "L.J." Jackson Sr. on January 7, 1997. He grew up in the center of an economically distressed section of Pompano Beach, Florida in a public housing project known as Golden Acres. Jackson's father died from a heart attack on the same day his grandmother died in 2005, when he was eight years old. Jackson, his younger brother, and two younger sisters were raised by their mother.

According to Jackson, it was his mom that encouraged him to play football and was his first coach. Jackson says that at the age of 7 she put him and his brother through some very demanding workouts. Jackson attended public schools and played Pop Warner football in the same Florida league with future teammate Marquise Brown. When he was eight years old, Jackson could throw a football 20 yards. At age 11 Jackson won the South Florida FYFL Super Bowl. Jackson, his brother Jamar and the Northwest Broward Raiders beat the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes, who had been back-to-back champions with a long winning streak. Jackson was the starting quarterback for the Raiders; but he was also the team's safety and place kicker. The Raiders won 14–6 as Jackson threw two touchdowns and kicked the extra points.

High school

Jackson started his high school football career relatively late, not being on a team until his junior year of high school. Jackson attended Santaluces for his first two years of high school, before transferring to Boynton Beach High School in Boynton Beach, Florida. While there, Jackson was a successful read-option quarterback who could run and throw the ball equally well. He improved passing accuracy and decision-making by watching hours of film each week. In two years at Boynton Beach, Jackson threw for 2,263 yards and 31 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He also ran for 1,624 yards and 22 touchdowns, and had a quarterback rating of 102.7. A touchdown highlight Jackson scored against Village Academy went viral online, with The Palm Beach Post's Ryan DiPentima detailing:

Without any passing options down field, the dynamic QB rolled to his right, pump faked at the line of scrimmage and then took off for the end zone. He pointed at a Village Academy defender while beating him to the edge and then cut up field. Then, as another defender came flying in to make a tackle at the goal line, he hit the breaks [sic]. He just... stopped. As the defender flew by him, Jackson strutted into the end zone and threw his hands up.

While playing for Boyton Beach, Jackson also faced his Ravens teammate Tyler Huntley on Halloween night in 2014. Huntley and Hallandale high beat Boyton 38–36 with Huntley leading his team downfield for the winning score with 30 seconds left in the game.

Jackson's last high school game came against a nationally ranked Miami Central High School team during the first round of the 2014 Florida High School Football Playoff 6A tournament. Boynton Beach was soundly defeated 49–6, with Jackson throwing two interceptions. He also competed for his high school track team, posting a personal record of 11.45 seconds in the 100 meter dash in one track meet. Jackson was named the Lou Groza Palm Beach County High School Player of the Year in 2014.

Jackson was rated three stars by ESPN.com and 247Sports, but four stars by Rivals.com. Despite the disagreement by recruiting companies over his caliber, he received offers from both Power Five schools like Louisville, Florida, Auburn, and Clemson, and mid-major programs like Akron, Western Kentucky, and Marshall. All of the major recruiting companies listed Jackson as a top 20 dual-threat quarterback, with 247Sports ranking him as high as #12. Jackson's in-state ranking also varied greatly, from as high as #51 from Rivals to as low as #80 by ESPN. Jackson visited only four schools (Louisville, Florida, Nebraska, and Mississippi State), and, after it appeared he might sign with Florida, Jackson ultimately committed to the University of Louisville. Head coach Bobby Petrino promised Jackson's mother that her son would be playing quarterback and nothing else.

2015 season

Jackson, a communications major, began his true freshman season as the backup quarterback to Reggie Bonnafon. He made his collegiate debut in the season opener against No. 6 Auburn, starting at running back before relieving Bonnafon at quarterback. Jackson completed 9 of 20 passes for 100 yards and an interception while rushing for a team-high 106 yards and a touchdown in the 31–24 loss. He made his first start at quarterback the following week against the Houston Cougars, completing 17 of 27 passes for 168 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while also rushing for a touchdown in a 34–31 loss. Jackson was benched the following week in favor of Kyle Bolin, but still appeared in the loss. After Louisville opened the season 0–3 while using three different starting quarterbacks, he regained the starting job against Samford in Week 4, accounting for three total touchdowns and rushing for 184 yards and two scores in the Cardinals' first victory of the season. Jackson started the next five games before missing a contest against Syracuse with an injury. He then returned in a reserve role behind Bolin, appearing in Louisville's final three regular-season games, including the season finale against Kentucky, in which he accounted for three touchdowns and rushed for a season-high 186 yards. Jackson regained the starting job for the 2015 Music City Bowl and was named MVP after passing for 227 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for a Music City Bowl-record 226 yards and two touchdowns in a 27–21 victory over Texas A&M. Jackson played in 12 games and made eight starts (seven at quarterback) during Louisville's 8–5 season. He completed 135 of 247 passes for 1,840 yards and 12 touchdowns with eight interceptions while rushing for 960 yards and 11 touchdowns.

2016 season

During the first game of his sophomore year, against the Charlotte 49ers, Jackson set a university record for total touchdowns with eight, all of them in the first half. Against Syracuse, Jackson completed 20 of 39 passes for 411 yards, a touchdown, and an interception to go along with 199 rushing yards and four touchdowns, with all five touchdowns coming in the first half as the Cardinals routed the Orange 62–28. One of those touchdowns came when he hurdled over a Syracuse defender into the end zone.

Against #2 Florida State, Jackson completed 13-of-20 passes for 216 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in addition to 146 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He scored four of the five total touchdowns in the first half in a 63–20 rout of the Seminoles, the most points that the Seminoles had ever surrendered at the time. The game made Jackson the Heisman front runner, and gave the Cardinals a #3 ranking, their highest since 2006. Against Marshall, Jackson completed 24 of 44 passes for 417 yards and five touchdowns, and had 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Against #5 Clemson, Louisville's offense totaled 586 yards, with Jackson accounting for 295 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, and three total touchdowns (one passing, two rushing). The Cardinals eventually lost the game 42–36. On December 8, Jackson was awarded the Walter Camp Award as the player of the year and the Maxwell Award as the best all-around player in college football.

On December 10, 2016, Jackson was selected as the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner over fellow finalists Deshaun Watson, Dede Westbrook, Jabrill Peppers, and Baker Mayfield. Jackson became Louisville's first Heisman Trophy winner in school history, and the youngest-ever recipient of the award at the age of 19 years and 337 days. He finished Louisville's 9–4 season with 3,543 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and nine interceptions to go along with 260 carries for 1,571 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.