minicamp for the Ravens. A lot of mystery originating from
franchise quarterback in 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson.
Here's Marlon Humphrey making the big reveal
that Lamar Jackson
did indeed show up. Don't Don.
You won't believe who I'm with.
Yeah. What's going on, guys? Back at the King's Castle.
I hope you're ready for this is because I'm sure
two years. Let's do it.
Flock Nation.
That's great. That's fine. It's mandatory he was expected to be
there.
It didn't provide any insight
explanation,
guidance or understanding as to why he hasn't been there
before.
I know he's working out with his own
quarterback mechanics Guru
Plenty of time to do that in the offseason, plenty of time
to do both. Yeah, plenty of time to take care of your
team related practices. Getting to know your new look,
receiving Corps with Hollywood Brown traded plenty of time to
work on your mechanics. Plenty of time to do everything in
the offseason. If you truly are
fully and completely
motivated, dedicated determined
to have your best season ever,
win a Super Bowl,
and then have a gigantic pile of money just drop out of
the sky. You know, we tried last week to ascertain what he
really wants. I really do think he wants that
that that no negotiation offer
the Raven show up and say here it is. All you got to do is
sign and it's so obviously the best contract ever given to any
NFL player, he'd be stupid to not sign it. I really do think
that's what he wants.
Maybe you're right and and and since they haven't given given
it to him yet is only alternative is to go out and
have a great season and hope they give it to him after
the season ends. Yeah, right. Well and what we were talking about
was the yes, well we
want you to go to OTAs. Our Jackson
so you can have that best season we're talking about and,
you know, they can roll up the Brinks truck and just drop
the cash everywhere. I don't know to me, the, to your point, you
know, you can do both. So the NFL offseason schedule for
players is not
that grueling the hours aren't crazy there.
So it's good to see him there for sure. I mean that's something
I was wondering whether he was going to show up for man to
court mandatory minicamp. I expected him to but I mean
again with Lamar you just you don't know
and because he doesn't talk to anybody. And there's no age in
and
it just seems to be hard to get in contact with him in general,
from anybody, you talk to, you never have an inkling of what's
really going on or hearing a rumor. So, yeah, I don't know
where his mind's at either way. He was there in the uniform.
I'm sure taking team, pictures, and doing all
those necessary things before minicamp that teams do, but
good to see him there. Regardless, it is, I just it's
risky,
of course, it's very, very risky. And I don't understand
the approach of not putting yourself in the best position
to Play your best football in a risky year like we're talking
about well and
to back it up a step, we want him to be there. If his goal is
to have the best season ever that he's had and go get
the huge contract but
he should already have the huge contract.
That's where this thing got off the rails. They're ready to
pay. The vault is open, it's been open
he shouldn't be practicing
without the protection of the law. Term contract. But he
doesn't have the long term contract not because the team
is slow playing it like the Cardinals are with Kyler
Murray, he's slow playing it. It still makes
no sense whatsoever. I wonder if they're going to make him
available to them. Well yeah mandatory that wasn't
a question Tori minicamp what are you going to ask them? What's
the first thing you're asking. If you're there, you know on
press row there with Lamar Jackson what do
you want to know?
The team seems to be mystified by your failure
to engage the The organization in contract negotiations. Why
have you not right?
Why have you not talked to the Ravens about a new contract
when they seem to be ready to give you one? Yeah, yeah, that
should give you just. What do you think I'll say?
Yeah. What are they gonna say
II? Figured, he'd throw around something. Like, I just want to
focus on football and do things there and play my best and that
will take care of itself. I feel like it's something like
that which again, is going to kind of lead to.
I think we're your pasta and meatballs gut is here.
And I'll and the same
what you're saying a little bit is what Steve Bisciotti said but
moscati biscotti, sorry
tomato tomahto, I know champagne
I choked what I come to comes is name.
Like he said, kill
me, I can do that. I know I can do that because I'm Italian, by
the way, by the way. Yes, pain. Some of the TV shows I watch
it. Still is fair game to make fun of Italians.
I don't know why it is. Funnel is well good.
It's a biscotti. I know. I know. Well, I guess it is.
Well, you guys are good. Sports. And you don't take it
too personal and you make fun of each other's know. Just,
which I think that's good. Yeah, exactly, right. Get my
Tommy. Yeah,
you're right. But but
I mean yeah to what the owner said though, Mike and to your
point, he kind of said the same thing
when he was at the owners meeting.
He got the feeling that this guy just wants to,
you know, play play, so great win a Super Bowl.
So he could just say he deserves it
and then they just give him a contract that there's no
discussion with and he can just sign. The dotted line.
It's starting to feel that way it is. So but yeah, I think he
would give a lot of,
you know, Hyperbole and kind of BS there to a degree
in his answer.
I don't know how capable he is of that and that's
a compliment. That's a good thing to your right eye that your
fire. I don't think it would be genuine, right? And honest and
not do the Tom Brady, 90% of the time. I don't say what
I really think. So we have to parse through every frickin
word that he says to figure out, which is in the 90 and
which is in the 10. Yeah, thanks a lot. Tom
but with Lamar I think he still is
you know kind of young and and look I was that way. I was very
naive. I used to be extremely gullible because it was too
hard to try to figure out when someone's lying to you when
you're not when
when you are as you grow up drilled to always be truthful
and honest and candid with everyone and all of a sudden
you're introduced to a world of b*******. It's overwhelming at
first.
Now I've become very Adept at spotting it over the past 35
years, but I can remember being early. Thinking I really would
like to just be able to take people at face value. It's
going to be a lot of work to figure
out when people are telling me the truth and when they aren't
but I think Lamar Jackson still kind of used the world that way
so yeah, you're right, you're right. Are you hesitant to
negotiate? Are you hesitant to negotiate with the team, right?
Do you understand the risk? You're taking by playing
the position, the way you play the position, and not accepting
the money that Steve Bisciotti biscotti wants to give you.
These are all very fair questions. The problem with
the press conference though, Is everybody shows up
with the one question that they plan to ask to impress their
boss and check the box and show that they're actually doing
their job and it's never a meaningful conversation. It's
a scattershot approach.
He needs to sit down for an interview one-on-one with
someone who would have the ability to just drill down,
Lamar, how do we get here? How do we get out of here? Do you
not want to have to negotiate? Do you think you shouldn't have
to
do? You think that, you'd maybe like to finish your contract
and do a couple of Franchise tag years and become a free
agent and forced the Ravens to sign you that way. And if they
don't give you the
best, offer you go play for somebody else.
Do you want to play in Miami? Is that what this is about? A
you concerned, they're going to trade you. If you don't engage
them, that they're going to become exasperated with
the situation and say, we need certainty here.
There are a lot of questions that could be asked in that setting
one after another after another, to get to the bottom of this,
and to the extent that he's frustrated about these discussions,
he's responsible for them, whether he intended it
Or not, he's allowed this mystery to just grow and expand
and spread. It's like a Vine, it's gotten worse, not better.
And and this whole shown up for mandatory minicamp like hey,
here I am, I'm ready?
Well, where you been?
You're here, good, you have to be here, you're gonna get fun
hundred thousand dollars, not that, maybe they'd probably
find a way to waive it, or excuse me. They don't want to
agitate the situation any more than it already. Is
but where have you been, what have you been doing? That's
part of what you would ask in a sit-down as well. Why didn't
you go see him instead? The borough,
go see him next. Well, I mean maybe he doesn't eat maybe he
declined the offer maybe with how he treated me on Twitter
a few weeks ago it may be that he's like I don't want to talk
to that guy
but hopefully not maybe one day. I will be able to talk to
him, but I think you're kind of your, you know, your questions
are right. You're kind of on the right track there and
I don't mean again Lamar to me it's
I know we got a few other crazy stories this offseason but
I can't remember one like this where again, we're on
a franchise Superstar quarterback team willing to pay reaching.
Hang out and we just have kind of no clue where the player is
and this situation,
it's still very odd to me.
I don't use the term unprecedented lightly. This is
definitely without precedent, this is, especially in today's
NFL where the idea is get yourself to the point
where they are ready to pay. You a market value contract and
take it as soon as you can because everything is
potentially temporary. It's not guaranteed to be temporary. And
I know Dak Prescott still got 160 million over
For years, our 140 million, excuse me over four years, that
would have been a hell of a deal hundred. Now it is 160. My
math sucks,
one sixty forty times four equals
160. He got 160 after breaking his ankle
but look that's still
a serious situation. Ask Alex Smith when you have a compound
fracture in the skin is pierced in the bacteria that resides on
the surface of your skin, has the opportunity to invade your
body. The chances of a serious infection
are significant.
That was the biggest risk that that Prescott had it.
To clean break it heals, but you got to go through this
period of time where you may have an infection and if you
do, you got a major problem, ask Alex Smith. So
there's still risk and it could derail your career.
It could cause you to never get that contract that you've
already earned. We've always wanted what's best for Lamar
Jackson. I think at a certain point I think this may be how
the Ravens feel you're trying to do right by the guy
and he won't engage and at a certain point you're going to
get pissed off and you are going Start looking around
and you got to ask yourself
if we get through this season
and he still won't engage has
tagged trade tag, trade
Miami. Wherever we're moving on to another quarterback. We
can't do this anymore.
Well, it's definitely got to be frustrating. It is, but the to
me there too far down. You know, the Lamar Jackson
Wormhole right now to be able to like abandon ship just
immediately.
I mean, sure, Tyler hundley's, very good. He can play
certainly but they've made a team based on Lamar Jackson
Talents and playing that style of football,
which is different than just about everybody else in the game.
So that's where Lamar does have
a lot of power here and as far as the situation is concerned,
let alone of course we know he's really awesome football
player now I know but it's still it's yes pissed at Imam.
I mean again you know team can't really figure out
the future a little bit. I think that's probably the most
frustrating thing for them. Just balancing
the checkbook where they going to go future contracts, all of
that, you know, guy,
Man, guys in the locker room
they got to be like wait what the hell
you know to what degree is it as a player? Everybody's gonna
be sitting there going man.
I wish I could, you know, get a contract like the Ravens want
to give Lamar Jackson, but he doesn't want it. I mean, it's
just so weird. It's such a weird dynamic, it really is.
And
I know he's a leader of that football team and they love
him. But
yeah, I just think this is going to hover over them
throughout training camp and it's still going to be talking
about, you know, during the season Oh
and of course I have a hard time thinking it won't be on
his brain to a degree. You know if we get to the middle part of
the year and it's tough football and you know, he's
taking shots and doing that. The Brandon Marshall element
that I brought up so many times
to, where can you really go pedal to the metal, you know,
down a pie off, stretch AFC North football?
When you know, oh man,
I won't lie. I, if I don't get hurt, I got a 250 million
dollar payday coming here. Like one can you play That way,
I mean that to me is what we'll be watching and it's going to
be hovering over that team from the media
standpoint and and football fans everywhere.
Well, he wasn't able to go pedal to the metal down
the stretch line. Oh, that's nice for yams doodle, right? Fairly
basic ankle, injury guide of it and lo he was out of
the pockets of the protection against the hit at or
below. The knee is off. It was a clean illegal. Hit
gets him low, sprains his ankle and we don't see him the rest
of the year. And then on top of that, you know, he's got that
weird to and I remember saying this during the season and
I don't say this for
Seriously, I have Crohn's disease. I'm willing to talk
about it. People who may have the symptoms need to get
checked, get a colonoscopy. And he kept having these stomach
issues stomach issues, you got to get checked. At some point,
I remember when Jay Cutler had diabetes and
they never bothered to just
give him a blood test and check his
sugar levels. It took forever for them to find other guys
losing weight, each week, he's tired. And how that don't they
have doctors out there like, how long does it take to get to
the bottom of, what's wrong with
a guy? I think. I think that's where organization gets so
caught up in the fact that these guys are Superman
And that they never they never consider the possibility. They
may have just some common ailment
that the average person gets. Yeah. Well
listen I think maybe this is part of the discussion
you know, again
I know that down there that his health and things like that are
are a part of the conversation or at least a concern, they
love Lamar Jackson, he's a stand-up guy.
They know he's a good guy. He's not doing anything wrong
anything like that. But I think there is a worry from what I've
Been Told. Told down there, okay?
But people just maybe him not,
you know, taking care of himself, quite the way. He should,
you know, as far as professional quarterbacks are
concerned and, you know, junky food staying up late. Yes, he
was sick. A number of times this year
and I think again, now I'm going from things, I've heard
down from people in Baltimore that. Yeah, they feel like his
lifestyle, a little bit,
for lack of a better phrase, a little may be immature that way,
and No. Again I think we're seeing a little bit of
an immature negotiation and approach to this offseason. I'm
not trying to be disrespectful. I'm just giving my honest, take
their
Lamar Jackson again,
want the best for you do
but I think those are the facts and some of the things that are
on the table there. And yeah, that is something. I know that
the Ravens are a little concerned at the current
concerned with down there.
Lamar, if you will sit with me for an interview, I will bring
a gently used hasn't been in the bathroom.
Copy Of the TB 12 book signed. Now it's not ascribe to them
are, it's inscribed to Mike. We can scratch it out and put
Lamar a my time. Sign one
to you. Geez. Oh yeah, what was he thinking? Son
I want. That was years ago. Okay,
yeah, yeah. That was before
I took a turn or he took a turn, but either way, we are
farther apart now than we were when he sent me unsolicited out
of the blue big box. I mean it's a big nice.
Yeah. Right book and the only, you know what the
Only time I actually opened it to read it other than to seem
to great fun. And look, who knows if he actually signed it.
I'm not. I think I did and a certificate of authenticity.
But the only time I ever looked in it was
use his own words against him
when he did a Subway teal last year.
That's all I've ever used it for a research tool,
you just slam him, use protect our keep calm an a******. You
last, the last stuff he would ever put in his body and they
did kind of have some self-aware fun with it in
the commercial.
Yes I did. That's the only time I've ever actually looked at
the TV today. It's an impressive Mark. Yeah I'll
bring it. And let me tell you it's substantial enough that if
you don't like one of my questions you can just whack me
with it and I will leave.