Why the NFL Does Not Want Lamar Jackson as the Face of the League
All right, so let’s talk. The NFL does not want Lamar Jackson to ever win the Super Bowl. I don’t even think they want him to go to the Super Bowl. They don’t want him to be the face of the league, and in my opinion, it is related to skin tone, color, and image.
Lamar is dark-skinned, and Lamar talks like a brother from the South. They do not want that being the face of the league. People keep saying it’s coincidence — coincidence that someone misses a field goal, coincidence that someone fumbles, coincidence that someone drops a pass. I don’t believe in coincidence. They don’t want him to be the face of the league.
Everything about Lamar — the braids, how he talks, his skin tone, his style of play — they don’t want that. They don’t want more like that. I’m telling y’all, he is an unbelievable player and an unbelievable quarterback. He is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. To pass at that elite level and still be questioned is crazy.
They took forever to acknowledge him as a passer. They kept calling him a running back or a running quarterback. There is no such thing as a running quarterback — that’s not a real position. He’s been one of the top pocket quarterbacks in the league, he’s won two MVPs. He would have won a third MVP, but they felt like he won enough, so let’s give it to Josh Allen, who’s not even on his level.
You look at the teams the Chiefs have had, the team Burrow had, and they want you to believe Lamar can’t get to the big game? Fans — even people who don’t root for the Ravens — are putting two and two together. This doesn’t make sense. And the NBA mirrors this to some extent. Yes, Allen Iverson got to the Finals, but they didn’t want him to win the Finals, because if he becomes the face, there would be copycats, and that’s what they didn’t want.
There is a colorism aspect to this. There is. Look at the quarterbacks right now. Jalen Hurts can play. Jordan Love can play. Caleb Williams can play. But if you want to say this isn’t related to colorism, you are sadly mistaken.
We saw plays from Lamar Jackson this year when he wasn’t even 100%, and he was judged like he was. We saw plays against the Steelers that we’ve never seen before. And people will say they won because Aaron Rodgers was great. Aaron Rodgers has been mid all year. At this point in his career, he’s a game manager. That team is defense-oriented and run-heavy.
Every year it’s the same thing: “Oh, he just dropped the pass.” “Oh, if they just caught that.” I’m telling you right now, it’s part of the plan. They don’t want the face of the league to be a dark-skinned Black man with braids who talks like a brother.
Let’s not get it twisted — brothers work in offices and corporate settings too. But when we’re around our own people, we talk like Lamar Jackson. East Coast version, West Coast version, Southern version. That’s why so many brothers support him. I’m not even a Ravens fan, and I support him because he does not have access to the same level of talent as his peers.
Yes, he has Derrick Henry now, a phenomenal player, but he doesn’t have a Ja’Marr Chase. He doesn’t have a dominant defense anymore. Offensively, he has to make it happen — passing and running — and still doesn’t get the same grace.
They never call him brilliant. They never call him a genius. They use words like strong and freak. But if it’s someone non-Black, we hear genius and brilliant. They never called Mike Tomlin a genius, but they call Ben Johnson a genius. They call Sean McVay a guru. That’s by design.
That same lack of grace shows up everywhere. Coaches get fired while winning. Front offices get replaced. Consultants with no football background get brought in. And you already know what that means — white coach, white GM.
This is a business. The NFL is more of a business than it is a game. Businesses have plans. These games are not just watched by chance. When you keep wondering why the Chiefs keep getting there, why certain quarterbacks are always pushed, that’s why.
Look at the quarterbacks they like: Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love. Even when someone says, “Jordan Love has braids,” he’s still light. They like the look. They like how it sounds. They like how it plays.
They didn’t want Cam Newton winning either. He looked completely different in that Super Bowl. Other than Doug Williams, they never wanted that to be the standard.
There is not one dark-skinned quarterback in the playoffs right now. That’s colorism. Same thing in acting, same thing in music, same thing everywhere else.
They were never going to let a team with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry — both with cornrows, both unapologetically Black — be the face. They want to check boxes. They want a certain aesthetic. As light as possible.
This isn’t about blaming the players. The players can play. This is about marketing, ownership, and image. Non-Black owners, a non-Black commissioner, and a league that already decided what “genius” and “leadership” are supposed to look like.
You keep looking at the NFL like it’s just a game. It’s not. It’s a business. And businesses protect their image.
That’s why they don’t want Lamar Jackson to be the face of the league.
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