Before Lamar Jackson was a Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time NFL MVP, he was a star quarterback at Boynton Beach Community High School and a highly regarded recruit in the 2015 class.
Despite being from Boynton Beach, Florida, Jackson chose to attend the University of Louisville, opting for the Cardinals over top in-state programs. In a recent interview, he shared the reasons behind his decision.
Lamar Jackson Explains Surprising Decision to Choose Louisville Over Florida
247Sports rated Lamar Jackson as the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class. As a consensus four-star, there were plenty of programs interested in the young quarterback, and he racked up 20 offers before finally committing to the University of Louisville.
Although many schools were pursuing Jackson, he told Kevin Hart in a recent “Cold as Balls” interview that he was only considering two programs.
“I had Louisville and Florida,” Jackson said.
Despite being a Florida native, Jackson explained that he chose Louisville over the Gators because the Cardinals offered him playing time as a freshman, while Florida did not.
“I didn’t want to stay home, and I wanted the opportunity to play my freshman season,” Jackson said. “Florida, the head coach at the time, was like, ‘You might have to come back, you know, get some size, sit out, redshirt.’ That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
Louisville kept their word about Jackson’s ability to play as a freshman, and he appeared in 12 games his first season with the Cardinals.
Jackson hit a stride of development in his sophomore year and took the college football world by storm, throwing for over 3,500 yards and rushing for over 1,500 more en route to winning the Heisman trophy.
Hearing that Jackson might’ve ended up as a Gator if Will Muschamp, who was the Florida coach at the time, had told the future Heisman winner that he had the opportunity to start as a freshman has to make Florida fans sick to their stomachs.
Jackson made the right choice by choosing Louisville. After his sophomore campaign, he had a great junior season, impressing NFL scouts. After three years with the Cardinals, the Baltimore Ravens selected Jackson in the first round of the NFL Draft.
As they say, everything works out for a reason, but it’s crazy to think about how the college football universe might’ve been altered if Jackson had ended up choosing the Florida Gators back in 2015.
