Chapter 115: Worlds Apart
Storming out of the library, fuming with rage, Lamar Jackson stood at the entrance, taking deep breaths of fresh air. Even then, he couldn't calm himself.
"Ah!"
Unable to hold it in, he threw his head back and roared at the sky.
"Ahhhh!"
He shouted several more times, his fists clenched, as he forcefully expelled the frustration and heat that had been building up inside him. Finally, he could breathe a little easier.
But still—it wasn't enough.
"Ahhh!"
He roared again, scaring the birds from the trees. Students passing by hurriedly avoided him, steering clear of the star quarterback of the Louisville football team, who seemed to have turned into a wild beast, howling at the sun.
Before long, a bubble of empty space formed around Jackson, but he wasn't concerned with the curious and terrified stares.
He needed peace.
Sitting down on the steps, his head lowered, Jackson seriously began to reflect: How did things get to this point?
A running back. A running back? A running back!
He still couldn't believe it. "Ha, a running back?"
Truthfully, you couldn't blame Jackson for his arrogance—because reality backed him up.
If you looked at the salaries of the 32 NFL teams in 2023, ignoring the elite superstars (because once players reached the top, their salary structures became so complex that it was hard to gauge the true market value of each position), the average salary of each position gave a clear picture of the league's overall value system for offense, defense, and specific roles.
The player with the highest average salary wasn't the quarterback—it was the left tackle, the one responsible for protecting the quarterback's blind side.
Yes, while top-tier quarterbacks may claim the highest salaries overall, on average, left tackles were the most expensive, with an average annual salary of $8.19 million.
Next came the quarterback, with an average salary of $6.11 million.
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest-paid position—unsurprisingly—was the holder, the player on special teams responsible for holding the ball for the kicker.
Don't underestimate the importance of a holder, though. NFL history is filled with games that were lost because the holder made a mistake, ruining game-winning field goals.
The average salary for a holder was $1.09 million.
In general, the average salary for offensive players was $3.46 million, for defensive players, it was $3.08 million, and for special teams, it was $1.76 million.
Clearly, NFL teams invested more heavily in their offenses.
Zooming in on the offense:
Among all offensive positions, only three had an average salary below $3 million: the running back, the tight end, and the offensive guard.
A few years ago, tight ends had the lowest average salary on offense, but thanks to stars like Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints and Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, the position's value skyrocketed.
Now, it was the running back who had the lowest average salary among offensive players—just $2.1 million.
In the past, all the way up until the 1980s, running backs were the second-highest paid players on the team, right behind quarterbacks. Now, they had fallen so far. It was a reminder of how the tides of history could shift, and no one could stop it.
This was the reality—
A running back was like a blade of grass, tough and weathered by the elements.
A quarterback was like a precious gem, handled with care, shielded by the offensive line, with even the left tackle's high salary designed to protect him.
The difference between the two was night and day.
No matter how Jackson thought about it, he couldn't understand why people were comparing him to Lance. How had that guy suddenly risen to prominence?
In Jackson's mind, football was a game decided by quarterbacks. All other players were just supporting cast, including running backs—especially on his team, the Louisville Cardinals.
Naturally, Jackson's true competition lay in other quarterbacks: Watson, Darnold, Mayfield—these were his real rivals. Whether for the Heisman Trophy or the national championship, these were the enemies he needed to defeat.
A running back?
Why was a running back trying to crash the quarterback's party?
As far as Jackson was concerned, Alabama's quarterback, Hurts, was nothing more than an overhyped high school kid. Alabama won games solely because of their defense, and whatever points their offense scored came on the back of that defense smothering the opposition.
The same applied to Alabama's recent game against LSU. If it hadn't been for the Crimson Tide's defense shutting down LSU's ineffective offense in the first half, the game would've been over before Lance even had a chance to make a difference.
In Jackson's mind, even if Louisville faced Alabama in the national championship, the main matchup would be between him and Alabama's defense. A mere running back shouldn't be hogging the spotlight.
And yet, the media wouldn't leave him alone—
Lance, Lance, Lance. It never ended.
Now that Louisville had lost and Alabama had won, the narrative around Lance only grew stronger. He had surpassed Watson and climbed to second in the Heisman Trophy odds, closing in on Jackson.
The pressure was mounting.
Whether Jackson liked it or not, the NCAA spotlight was now squarely focused on "Jackson vs. Watson vs. Lance," and this narrative wasn't going away anytime soon.
"Lance doesn't even consider Lamar Jackson a threat. He'll worry about Louisville only if they make it to the national championship."
Hearing that quote again made Jackson's blood boil:
He had never even considered Lance a threat, right? Wasn't he the one who said that first? Now Lance was acting like he was the one calling the shots?
Anger surged through him, but just as it reached its peak, Jackson found a sliver of clarity.
Fine, if people wanted a spectacle, he would show them. He would prove them wrong. If Louisville could make it to the national championship and beat Alabama, all those doubters could finally shut their mouths, right?
Originally, Jackson had been focused on facing Watson in the national championship game, hoping to avenge his regular-season loss to Clemson and prove he was the most talented quarterback in the country. But now, with Lance surpassing Watson, Jackson had a new target to beat in the championship game.
When the game ended, Jackson was certain Lance's expression would be priceless. He could already imagine stamping that look of defeat into his memory. He couldn't wait to shove all those trash-talking words back down Lance's throat.
Just picturing it made Jackson burst into laughter.
Conveniently, Louisville's next game was against their historic rival, the Kentucky Wildcats.
Perfect timing.
Sorry, Kentucky, but Jackson was brimming with anger and needed to blow off some steam. Kentucky was about to become his punching bag—a team he could crush, pulverize, and steamroll.
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