QB Lamar Jackson represents hometown as he chases Heisman
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson doesn’t want to make this a competition.
As very young player, he dominated the Florida youth football scene. As a teen, he did the same while playing high school football in Palm Beach, Fla.
Instead of claiming one area, he’d rather just embrace both counties for putting him in contention for winning the Heisman Trophy. Jackson is among the five finalists in New York City awaiting Saturday night’s announcement at PlayStation Theater in Times Square.
No one from either county has ever won the award for the nation’s top college football player. So football fans in both areas can feel like their local hero has broken through on the nation’s biggest stage if he brings home the hardware.
“I’m from Broward County, but Palm Beach, I have friends and family down there, too,” Jackson said earlier this week. “I just take them both.”
Jackson was born in Pompano Beach,
Fla., before moving north of the county line for high school. After turning heads at the Broward County optimist level, he starred for two seasons at Boynton Beach High School. A record-breaking sophomore
season at Louisville will have him on stage with Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook.
“He claims Broward and Palm,” said former high school teammate Tre’Quan
Smith, who now plays safety at Northern
Illinois. “It really didn’t matter to us.
We didn’t care or talk about it. It’s not where you’re from but how you play.”
Where Jackson is from hasn’t mattered much this season. He
became the first player in Division I history with at least 3,300 passing
yards and 1,500 rushing yards in a season and the sixth to rush and throw for 20 touchdowns. Jackson was the Heisman favorite and the Cardinals were in contention for the nationtitle
Louisville lost its final two games against Houston and Kentucky.
Still, Jackson helped both counties get exposure. He appeared on the cover of
Sports Illustrated and was featured by nearly every national college football media outlet. In each interview, he represented both counties.
Longtime area recruiting writer Larry Blustein compared it to former Miami Hurricanes quarterback Ryan Collins, who was one of the area’s top players in the mid1990s. He lived in Pembroke Pines but played at Hialeah Miami Lakes.
Both counties claimed Collins.
“You take a kid who had success at a place like Boynton Beach and those people believe that he is one of theirs,” Blustein said. “And at the same time, he grew up in Broward County in Pompano Beach, and everyone there has a right to feel that he’s theirs as well, so I guess he’s both.”
Jackson has done a solid job of staying neutral. His Twitter page is full of Palm Beach references, including the 561 for the area code. That hasn’t prevented him from staying true to his Broward roots. Jackson became a household name after leading Louisville past Florida State in September. While he was walking off the field, cameras caught him saying, “Free Kodak Black.” It was in reference to the jailed rapper from Pompano Beach who has since been released. “That’s his hometown,” said Marcus Darrisaw, who was an assistant coach at Boynton Beach.
“He went to school in Boynton. He was raised in Pompano Beach, and he’s going to make sure the world knows he’s from Pompano Beach.”
Although both counties can stake a claim to Jackson, only one will be home to the Heisman if he wins the trophy. He already plans to give it to his mother, Felicia, who still lives in Boynton Beach. “It goes straight to the person it belongs to, my mother,” Jackson said. “I don’t have any control over it after that moment. I feel everything I accomplished in life, it belongs to her. She worked so hard with me and helping me as become a man and the player I am today. There’s no telling where I would have been without here. I think everything belongs to her.”