Lamar Jackson is on his way to an MVP season, and the second year quarterback has defied doubters and critics to his rise as one of the NFL's top quarterbacks.
Jackson's play, attitude, and humbleness has radiated throughout Baltimore and the entire NFL, so much that he's earning praise from one of Hollywood's best.
In an interview of the oral history of "Any Given Sunday" with The Ringer's Jake Kring-Schreifels, award-winning actor Al Pacino called Jackson "inspiring."
"I watch this guy Lamar Jackson. There are occasionally these players that are inspiring because you can see the game that they play is a game, and you can actually sense the joy they have in what they do. That's inspiring," Pacino said. "Watching Lamar Jackson is an inspiration to actors. Finding that pocket, finding, where is that joy that gets under you and brings you out? The freedom to let go of the conscious, and get it to the unconscious and fly like he does?
"With Willie Beamen, he was put in the background. Lamar was waiting behind Flacco, and I don't see how he got overlooked. What Lamar's doing was always there. You can clearly see it. Then you watch how he throws with such accuracy. He seems so comfortable throwing a football, like he's been doing it all his life."
Ironically enough, one of Jackson's top games came in a five-touchdown performance in Los Angeles against the Rams.
The 22-year-old is quickly becoming a polarizing figure on and off the field and it's hard not to see why.