Lamar Jackson’s mom Felicia Jones had a vision for his football career even before the Baltimore Ravens QB did

Behind that bright smile on the gridiron, there is a sorrow that cannot be put into words. Behind that humble demeanor lies a heavy heart that will not stop hurting. Behind those impeccable NFL records, there are blessings from someone watching from above, two of them. Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson’s father, Lamar Jackson Sr., and his paternal grandmother both passed away on the same day, twenty years ago in 2005.

“It was crazy. I was hurt, you know. I was crying a lot,” Jackson said on The Dan Patrick Show in 2016. “My father passed, but then my mom found out my grandma passed, probably an hour later, actually. I loved them to death, and I still try to make them happy. I’m blessed right now, thankful. But Mom said, ‘You can’t cry, you can’t cry.’ So, you know, I have to suck it up. I’m listening to my mother.”

While Felicia Jones worked, Lamar Jackson focused on football

Lamar is the oldest brother and has three younger siblings, including his brother, Jamar. His mother, Felicia Jones, looked after him. “She’s a huge influence on my life,” Jones said at a press conference in May 2023. “Raising the four of us, my younger brother, my two sisters, I’m the oldest.”

“Me being the oldest,” Jackson continued. “And just see how she grind, and work without complaining, not wanting me to get a job, telling me to focus on football, and she gonna take care of everything else, just seeing that was like, ‘If she can do that, I can do anything.’”

Mom is a superhero

“She’s raising four kids on her own,” Jackson said. “Not asking for a handout, not reaching out to people like, ‘Oh, I need this right here to pay my bills.’ I never heard her complain about anything.

I just seen her wake up early in the morning, go to work, come back late at night from working, or I’m dropping her off to work and stuff like that, and I’m like, ‘This woman’s a superhero to me.’ That was the part of the influence right there.”

Felicia Jones was the best coach Lamar Jackson ever had

Lamar’s mom was his first coach. And evidently the best he ever had.

“A lot of people helped me get better when I was young, but the best coach I’ve ever had was also my first one: Mom,” Jackson shared via The Players’ Tribune in 2016.

“And I’m not saying that just because she looked out for me and encouraged me to pursue football and all that stuff. I mean, she actually made me grind to get better.”

Long runs on bridge near Pompano Beach was more tiring than a football game

“I grew up in a town called Pompano Beach, and there was a big bridge by our house,” Jackson said. “My Mom and I would run on it just about every day. Didn’t matter how hot it was.

We’d go back and forth, and then back and forth again. And let me tell you, Mom was in shape! I’ve never played in a football game that was more tiring than those long runs on that bridge.”

Family bonded over drills, runs, blocking, and tackling

“After we ran, we’d go into our backyard, put on equipment, and start hitting — me, my younger brother, and my mom,” Jackson shared. “Now she was never like trying to put a lick on us or anything, but we’d all run through drills together.

We bonded that way. Thinking back on it, imagining my mini self in a three-point stance blocking Mom, it’s kind of hilarious.

But she knew what she was doing. She had a vision for my football career even before I did.”

Played quarterback at seven years old

“She probably had recognized my natural talent for the sport,” Jackson shared. “From a young age, when I had the ball in my hands, I just kind of knew how to find angles and space like I could feel where I had to go.

My first year playing football in 2004, I was only seven years old, and I started at quarterback because I could run.

It just so happened that 2004 was the year for running quarterbacks.”

Also Read: Ravens fans spam rookie kicker Tyler Loop’s Instagram after he missed field goal that cost the team its season to Steelers


Get the latest WPL 2026 updates including WPL teams, full WPL 2026 schedule, and live scores for Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants, and Delhi Capitals. Also check the latest WPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.