It appears that Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has a fan in former MVP Cam Newton.
The former No. 1 pick believes Jackson will be the first to win a Super Bowl amongst the top NFL QBs without a championship, including division rival Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow.
On Wednesday, April 10, Newton appeared on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast with former NFL TE Shannon Sharpe and was asked about his thoughts on who could win the next Super Bowl. Sharpe asked him, “Who do you think wins the Super Bowl first, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts?”
Newton responded instantly, “Lamar.” Three of those QBs (Hurts, Purdy and Burrow) have been to the Super Bowl before while Jackson reached the AFC championship for the first time in 2023.
The Ravens were the No. 1 seed and looked to be the best team in the league but ultimately fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Sharpe asked Newtons thoughts on what happened and how come they could not get the job done.
Newton said, “I think one thing that Lamar and the Ravens’ organization has to figure out is how to win the ugly games.” The AFC championship game was one of those ugly games that ended 17-10, but it felt like the Ravens were unable to get anything going offensively.
The former MVP went on to say, “When I look at Lamar, it’s like bro just stop thinking.”
Super Bowl Victory Is the Last Thing on Lamar Jackson’s List
Jackson was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft and has already produced a stellar career in 6 seasons.
Baltimore Beatdown’s Joshua Reed covered the Newton interview and wrote, “Jackson’s already Hall of Fame-worthy resume includes being voted league MVP twice, including a unanimous and near-unanimous tally, being named to three Pro Bowls, receiving two First-Team All-Pro honors.”
Jackson has been everything the Ravens could have imagined when they drafted him out of Louisville if not more, but Jackson has mentioned multiple times in the past that individual awards are not what he is playing for.
Reed wrote, “Lamar Jackson has overstuffed individual accolades in his trophy case. However, the most important one, a team accolade, has eluded him.”
Jackson and the Ravens came up just short this past season in the team’s first AFC championship appearance since Jackson took the helm. Jackson is 2-4 in the playoffs despite capturing the No. 1 seed in the AFC twice in his career.
Talking about winning the ugly game, Reed explained, “Being able to overcome all manners of adversity, including losing their starting quarterback for a series or the remainder of the game, is an ability the Chiefs have shown. Once the Ravens can prove they are capable of doing the same on a consistent basis, the sky will truly be the limit.”
Newton Does Not Put the Blame on Just Lamar Jackson
The QB position is one of the most beloved and criticized positions in sports as players receive all the credit or all the blame.
While Newton wants Jackson to just “find a way to win” he also understands it cannot just be the QB getting it done. He told Sharpe, “It’s just not Lamar, its everybody finding a way to win.”
Reed wrote, “In every one of the Ravens’ playoff exits over the past six years, the team’s game plans either weren’t executed properly on one or both sides of the ball or mistakes compounded and snowballed.”
Newton points to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as the perfect role model, saying, “That is what made Tom Brady and the New England Patriots so dynamic. Because we gon find a way to win.”
He finished by saying, “We gotta find a way to win and once he figures that out, the organization figures that out (Newton emphasizes whistle).”
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