Lamar Jackson is yet to win a Super Bowl in his young career, and there have been numerous takes calling him a failure for that. Everything has been questioned, from his leadership to his clutch ability. Naturally, his teammates, especially Marlon Humphrey, are tired of the accusations.
Humphrey recently addressed the hate that Jackson unfairly receives by pointing out how 31 quarterbacks don’t win a Super Bowl each year. However, only a few, like Jackson, seem to take the brunt of the blame.
Humphrey is an aspiring NFL analyst who practically has a job in the business lined up for him once his career ends. So, he understands that it’s some people’s jobs to criticize quarterbacks like Lamar when their team doesn’t win. But when it crosses into unfair territory, the Ravens corner has no problem stepping in to set the record straight.
“There’s so much things that just aren’t true about Lamar. The takes, why this happened, why that happened. I’ve always felt it’s not equal across the board,” he shared on the Locked On Ravens podcast.
“I know life isn’t fair. But there’s 31 quarterbacks that did not win the Super Bowl. But there’s only 1 or 2 that get blamed for x, y, z. And I feel like Lamar is always in that category.”
That’s just how the NFL news cycle works. If a team wins the Super Bowl, we praise the quarterback and view them through a different lens. But the second a team loses and their season comes to an end, the quarterback becomes the main target for criticism, expected to shoulder the blame and speak for the team. And it’s usually the most popular faces, like Lamar, that take the harshest hits.
However, Humphrey pointed out that there are plenty of other quarterbacks who don’t get talked about when their seasons come to an end. He didn’t say this, but a player like Joe Burrow is a great example of a player who is upheld in the media despite missing the playoffs for the last two years.
How is this fair to Lamar? After all, he’s led the Ravens to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons through his incredible play. He just hasn’t gotten it done once he’s there yet.
For years, we questioned if Jalen Hurts could get it done. But now that he has, he and the Eagles are viewed as a budding dynasty. Not to mention, people questioned Matthew Stafford for over a decade. Then, a move to the LA Rams promptly earned him a Super Bowl and locked him into the Top 5 quarterback discussions for years to come.
This is to say that the narrative changes quickly. So, to those beginning to doubt if Lamar and the Ravens will ever win the Big Game, just be patient. With the roster, coaching staff, and overall team that he has to work with, it feels like only a matter of time before he eventually runs into one. He’s too good not to.
