Lamar Jackson’s “I Don’t Care” Outlook Inspires Kyle Hamilton to Play Hard Against His Opponents

Many analysts and fans believed Lamar Jackson should have been the NFL’s MVP this season. Despite earning first-team All-Pro status for the third time, he finished as the MVP runner-up to Josh Allen. Jackson, though, was not among the people clamoring for himself in the aftermath of the voting.

Jackson has accomplished nearly everything he possibly could have in his brief career. He has previously led the league in touchdown passes and passer rating. He has regularly paced the NFL in yards per carry, having done so four times. He’s the ultimate dual-threat quarterback and likely a Hall of Famer if he retires tomorrow. But he doesn’t care about any of that. His singular goal is to win the Super Bowl.

Kyle Hamilton, one of Jackson’s teammates, joined the Green Light podcast on Tuesday. He told Chris Long that Jackson’s public persona isn’t an act. The 28-year-old quarterback craves becoming a champion more than anyone else in the league. And in Hamilton’s opinion, Jackson’s hyper-focused leadership style inspires his teammates.

“I think everybody kind of feeds off that… people lead in a different kind of manner… the way Lamar was brought up… [he’s] just like, ‘it is what it is. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it… I don’t care about them at all. I only care about you boys [and] I only care about winning the Super Bowl… all the hype speech, you gotta figure that out yourself… just be ready to play.'” Hamilton said.

Jackson, because of his atypical play style, is often criticized when he comes up short on his Super Bowl mission. He doesn’t let their words shake him from his aspirations, though.

Lamar Jackson: Critics can “have their time”

It’s no secret that Jackson’s dominant regular season play hasn’t entirely translated into postseason success. He has won 74.5% of his regular season starts (70-24 record). His playoff winning percentage is almost half of that figure (37.5%; 3-5 record). He also has more turnovers (11) than touchdown passes (10) in the postseason.

Jackson is well-aware that he hasn’t “raised his game” in the playoffs. Clearing his regular season standard would admittedly be tough to do, but he hasn’t replicated it consistently, either. He knows his detractors take joy in seeing him fail. But again, he doesn’t care. As he told Adam Schein in an interview ahead of the 2024 season, he’s confident his moment will come.

“I’m motivating myself because I know what I want to do at the end of the day. Those [critics] have their time. I really don’t care what the criticism is, what the critics say… we’ve just got to keep going. God’s will, we’ll be there because that’s our goal… what people say on the outside, that’s just their take. They can believe in what they want to believe,” Jackson said.

Unfortunately, the Ravens again fell short on Jackson’s quest in 2024, losing to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional. Jackson had two key turnovers in the loss, but showed some moxie by leading Baltimore down the field late in the contest. He completed six of seven passes (85.7%) for 88 yards and a touchdown, giving the Ravens an opportunity to tie the game.

The Jackson who orchestrated that drive is the Jackson we need to see more often in the playoffs. It’s possible that possession freed Jackson from any mental reservations he had about his ability to deliver in postseason crunch time. And if it did, he just may accomplish his ultimate goal of bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Baltimore in 2025.