Cote: Sorry, Lamar, but Super Bowl win is harsh reality for elite QBs | Opinion
Lamar Jackson has always been easy to root for, and to admire.
He’s a South Florida kid who was born an hour north of Miami in Pompano Beach and went to high school in Palm Beach County. The NFL wanted to pigeonhole him as a wide receiver and cornerback, but he said no and became one of the great quarterbacks of his era, a two-time league MVP (so far).
There was speculation a few years ago he might be available in free agency, and I wrote then that the Miami Dolphins should go all in. Imagine if they had? On a personal aside, Jackson has been the QB on my Greg’s Lobos fantasy teams for years. Dual-threat stars like him are rare treats.
So I was a bit taken aback by the reaction when, on the Dan Le Batard Show a few days ago, I said something about the Baltimore Ravens’ superstar that I thought was just obvious, accepted truth.
What I said: “We’re all dancing around what’s obvious with Lamar Jackson. We’re all dancing around the fact that, right now, he’s the great two-time MVP who has been a career disappointment. He’s never won, he’s never led his team to a Super Bowl. He’s 3-5 in the playoffs. The pressure is on Lamar Jackson to prove it in the postseason.”
I neither regret nor retract a word of it. No “clarification” is required. Stand by everything. But two words in what I said beg emphasis because they have been ignored in the criticism: right now...
That’s more than nuance, those two words are essential for proper perspective. I am not labeling Jackson a career disappointment for the lack of a Super Bowl ring. With perspective, I am saying that, right now, he is headed there and that a championship is what he needs if his legacy is to be without asterisk or void.
Just like Dan Marino needed that. Just like Josh Allen also needs it now. It is the burden of greatness, of being the best. It is a compliment to Jackson to think he is so great, a ring must follow. You can make the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, without one. But there will, undeniably, always be something missing.
Sports Illustrated, once great, called mine a “foolish” take. I actually thought it was an obvious one, rather benign ... until the reaction poured in.
Jackson himself responded on X, writing, “Instead of trying to bring me down, ask GOD to bring you up.”
(Not trying to bring you down, Lamar, just trying to be real on your situation.)
Jackson’s former Baltimore teammate and current NFL free agent, Kyle Van Noy, wrote this on X in Jackson’s defense: “Can I ask why y’all trying this narrative with pressure on Lamar when he already won the pressure argument! Y’all started off his career by saying should he should play WR or RB?!? He said watch this and won a MVP not just once but 2x. If he never plays a down again he’s literally a HOF.”
Yes, Lamar will be in the Hall of Fame, and deservedly. The issue is not his greatness or career numbers, but rather the one thing missing. Maybe that is harsh, but it’s reality — and more true of the quarterback position in the NFL than it is in other sports. It’s the burden of playing the most important position in America’s most popular sport.
Van Noy’s opinion and mine separate most distinctly when he says, “He already won the pressure argument.”
Nope. That argument is just beginning. And it will grow with every early playoff exit from here. With everything short of a ring to complement the two MVPs and the greatness.
Being a Super Bowl champion does not make you great. Trent Dilfer won one, and nobody on earth including Mrs. Dilfer thinks he was great or is greater than Marino or anywhere close.
But winning one completes the circle of greatness, makes it full.
We know well in Miami of Marino’s career greatness. We also know — and don’t pretend it isn’t there — that Marino’s inability to deliver a Super Bowl championship is a part of his legacy as much as the greatness and the records he set.
In my last interview with the great Don Shula, in his home office decorated with two Super Bowl trophy replicas, I asked what was his greatest regret. He didn’t pause long.
“Probably that we didn’t get to one more,” he said, meaning another Super Bowl. “I wish we were able to get a ring for Danny.”
Marino is far from alone in the category of all-time greats without a championship. Jackson would be in good company if fate has him join the club.
Ted Williams, Barry Bonds and Ty Cobb never won a World Series. Neither did Ernie Banks or Ken Griffey Jr.
Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Elgin Baylor and now Chris Paul all retired with no NBA championship.
I ruffled Edmonton feathers by referring to their great Connor McDavid as Connor “McOverrated” for his lack of a Stanley Cup amid all the surrounding stats and grand reputation. He would join Marcel Dionne as maybe the greatest hockey player not win the ultimate prize.
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi finally got the greatest-to-never-win-a-World Cup off his back in leading Argentina in 2022. Now players such as Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Cristiano Ronaldo share the ignominy.
And in the NFL, Marino has good company, too, with the no-ring likes of Barry Sanders, Randy Moss, Bruce Smith, Junior Seau, Larry Fitzgerald, LaDanian Tomlinson and Dick Butkus.
But Marino stands alone, right now, among the greatest QBs never to reign. The next-best include Jim Kelly, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts and Warren Moon. Jackson, if it doesn’t happen for him, would stand with Marino at the top of that unfortunate club.
Anyone who doesn’t believe Lamar Jackson bears the pressure to fulfill his greatness with a Super Bowl ring is kidding themselves, NFL history and plain logic.
This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 11:03 AM.
