Lamar Jackson shares messages on social media after criticism surrounding working with kids

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson makes high level plays on the football field, but makes an even greater impact off of it. He gives back to communities in a multitude of ways, as well as sets up events and more to help people who might need it.

Over the weekend, Jackson hosted his annual “Fun-Day with LJ” event in South Florida, which he puts on through his “Forever Dreamers” foundation.

Kids came out and played football with Jackson, ran routes against him while the quarterback lined up at defensive back, covered Jackson as he went out for passes, and caught throws from the fourth-year player. It was a weekend full of fun and plenty of smiles. However, after the videos of Jackson playing wide receiver and cornerback with the kids from his community on a basketball court surfaced, a flood of negative comments began to appear, including from some big media personalities such as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe, now of FOX Sports.

Florio said that Jackson took an “unnecessary risk” on the brink of a life changing contract, while Sharpe went as far as to tell the quarterback to not mess his money up “being dumb”.

In the face of negativity for something that should have only garnered positive attention, Jackson took to both Twitter and Instagram to put out messages. On Twitter, the former University of Louisville star shared one of the reasons that he put on the event, and also said it’s not going anywhere.

On Instagram, the quarterback shared a story that reiterated his desire to win a Super Bowl.

Most of the criticism surrounding Jackson stems from the fact that some believe that he could have gotten seriously injured while running routes and playing defensive back on asphalt. While the quarterback could have gotten hurt in that instance, that goes for plenty of different situations in life. Jackson was having fun with his community and making hundreds of kids smile. That should be the story, not bending a such a positive thing into a negative one.

Jackson shouldn’t need to have his life be under a microscope for every single thing that he does. He’s smart enough to know which situations could be bad for his health and which aren’t, so as long as he isn’t doing anything extremely dangerous, he should be allowed to live his life without negative judgement.

There are many things that go beyond football, and giving back is one of them. Jackson has shown through his actions that being involved in his communities is a major part of his life. Baltimore is lucky to have a quarterback who cares so much about the places that are important to him. He’s a great player on the field, but an even better person off of it.