RGIII and LaMar Jackson give Baltimore two former African-American Heisman winning quarterbacks backing up current starter Joe Flacco.
While RGIIIs best days are behind him and hes just happy to be on a roster, Jackson has been gaining praise and accelerating his elevation to the starting QB position. He’s the hot-shot new-jack coming for the Super Bowl winning veteran’s spot. It’s a common theme that we’ve seen play out in real life and the movies.
Willie Beamen – My Name is Willie
Willie Beamen performs his hit song My Name is Willie from Any Given Sunday.
Word on the street is that Joe Flacco wasnt happy that Jackson was drafted with the final pick of the first round out and waited nine days before he reached out to the Louisville star and welcomed him to the team.
RGIII, on the other hand, according to an SI.com story, texted Jackson immediately after the draft to tell him that he has his back. Now, the two quarterbacks talk on a daily basis and meet at least once a week away from the facility. Black power indeed.
Its a brotherhood that naturally develops between African-American quarterbacks because of what they go through. Just look at the treatment of Jackson in comparison to other white quarterbacks in the draft.
The Shadow League on Twitter
Lamar Jackson is dealing with the same tired analysis that other QBs have experienced: https://t.co/qE84cWAy8M
“Is it different being an African-American quarterback in the NFL?” Griffin said. “Yes, it’s different. But you can’t look at it as a burden. You can’t look at it as something that is going to hold you back. It’s a challenge. You have to accept the challenge and move forward with it. Anytime you are athletic enough at the quarterback position and have similar traits to a wide receiver or running back, it’s going to be talked about. You have to eliminate that noise and understand that, because I have that ability, I am going to be even greater.”
RGIII, who knows about being a multi-talented, dual threat QB with exceptional athleticism and criticized pocket savvy all too well, has decided to take Jackson under his wing and be a mentor to him. He says he’s trying to “nurture” Jackson like a bird that’s unable to fly away from home quite yet.
“I’m trying to help nurture him as much as I possibly can, so that when he flies away, he is ready to fly away,” Griffin told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Baskin. “Because when you watch it fly away, at that point it’s up to that bird.”
RavensBeat on Twitter
RG3 being the mentor he never had for Lamar Jackson. #Ravens https://t.co/SJYECKUnfu
Since almost dropping into the second round on Draft night, and then being told he would be used in various ways initially by Baltimore, Jackson has been doing his thing in practice. The Ravens have also been experimenting with two-quarterback sets to get Jackson onto the field with Flacco.
Jackson’s teammates have compared him to Michael Vick and he impressed folks when the Ravens allowed him to run the offense for a day. RGIII has seen it all, so he probably has some jewels to drop on Jackson.
Via cbssports.com: It’ll probably help that he has RG3 to lean on. For all of RG3’s faults on the field, he can supply Jackson with some valuable insight. RG3, the former No. 2 overall pick in 2012, has experienced both the highs (2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year) and lows of the NFL (every year besides 2012). So, he should be able to prepare Jackson for the inevitable peaks and valleys that Jackson will experience during his career.
In that sense, RG3 could be a perfect mentor.
RG3’s Blame Game Is Lame
When he was a wide-eyed, fresh-faced phenom out of Baylor setting the NFL world ablaze with his incomparable combination of speed, athleticism and passing ability, RG3 would always shoulder the blame in a loss, regardless of whose fault it was. He showed all of the initial signs of becoming a great leader.
“I try to take that and look at it in a positive way to try to help Lamar navigate a lot of the things that I had to navigate on my own,” Griffin says. “I feel like he really trusts me and believes what I’m telling him and I think that’s made him a better player already in a short amount of time.”
