BALTIMORE -- It was the surest of bets at Thursday's NFL Honors show: Lamar Jackson was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. For the past six weeks, the expectation was seeing Jackson walk upon the stage, and at age 27, become the league's youngest two-time MVP since the merger.
But what might be easy to forget is how much of a long shot this was once considered.
On March 2, the low point of Baltimore's contract negotiations with Jackson came when Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta received a message from his franchise quarterback that would derail his NFL combine in Indianapolis.