Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens had an amazing run last season that ended at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game. Baltimore finished the regular season 13-4 and Jackson took home his second league MVP Award.
Still, Jackson knows they let one get away in the AFC Championship Game at home against the Chiefs. He didn’t have a great game and knows despite the year he had there’s still more to prove.
“I’m only 27, but that’s the way of life, especially the football life,” Jackson said on “The Lounge” podcast. “You’ve got to do it while you’re young, because when you’re older, there’s going to be younger cats, younger than you coming in and they’re going to be hungry too because they want to win the Super Bowl as well. That’s why I’m on the guys more now.”
Jackson’s success during the first six years of his career is well documented. He’s a two-time MVP, having led the Ravens to the AFC’s No. 1 seed twice and an AFC Championship Game appearance.
However, Jackson knows it’s going to take more than just MVP’s to get to where he wants to be, ranked among the greatest to ever play the game. Individual awards are great but, in the NFL, franchise QBs, especially those all-time greats, are expected to win Super Bowls.
That must be the next level for Jackson, and he knows it. Dan Marino is an all-time great, but he’s never mentioned in top-five discussions anymore. Had won even one Super Bowl his career is likely viewed a lot differently. Marino won the MVP in 1984.
The Miami Dolphins played the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl XIX that season. The Dolphins lost to the 49ers, 38-16, and Marino never appeared in another Super Bowl. Jackson is still young, but those comparisons will come eventually should the Ravens continue to fall short.
While Jackson may never be considered the passer Marino was, if he continues with the level of regular-season production we’ve seen, he’ll be stashed in the group. John Elway was seen as a QB who couldn’t “win the big one” in the mid-1990s having lost three Super Bowls the previous decade.
As we know, Elway and the Denver Broncos finally broke through in the late 90s winning back-to-back rings before he walked off into the sunset. Whether it happens in the middle of Jackson’s story or the end, the ultimate goal is to be considered a champion. It’s hard to claim the title of greatest ever without the hardware to back it up.