Lamar Jackson And Josh Allen Reject Their Casting In The Race War | Bobby Burack

As Josh Allen knelt the ball for the final time on Sunday, clinching a trip to the AFC Championship Game, he and fellow quarterback Lamar Jackson had the same thought on their minds: each other. As the clock hit 00:00, the two leading MVP candidates rushed over to one another, hugged, paid their respects, and blocked out all the noise.

"I got so much respect and love for [Lamar Jackson]," Allen told CBS Sports in a postgame interview. "He is one of the greatest to ever step on the football field."

"Great players recognize greatness, and we both recognize each other," Jackson told reporters when asked about the exchange. "I told him, 'Man, go get something. Go win something. MVP or Super Bowl. Do something.' I want him to be successful."

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills and Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens meet following an NFL Football game  at Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Close followers of Allen and Jackson were hardly surprised by the mutual respect shown. The quarterbacks, both selected in the 2018 draft class, have been nothing but respectful since their arrivals in the NFL.

Yet fans of other teams, fans who receive their NFL news from the national media, were probably a bit more surprised. For years, the sports media has routinely pitted Allen and Jackson against one another, almost exclusively on the basis of race.

Hours before kickoff, ESPN published an article from its race vertical Andspace, accusing the two quarterbacks of dividing fans across racial lines. Per the article, black fans root for Jackson because he has been forced to overcome unarmed racial stereotypes. Meanwhile, the article accuses white people of rooting for Allen because he once used the N-word on social media as a teenager and is a symbol of overcoming cancel culture.

"It’s a perfectly American story perfect for another Great Race Debate: a formerly N-word-spouting white QB and a Black quarterback fighting against stereotypes," writes the author David Dennis Jr., the son of a civil rights activist. 

"As is often the case, Allen would find another following beyond Bills fans and football fans who are in awe of his on-the-field skillset: he’d become the star who overcame the dreaded and mythical cancel culture."

OutKick asked Dennis if he had any evidence of the latter, as in white people supporting Allen for that reason. We noticed he didn't provide any proof in his article. Dennis did not respond.

But his argument is consistent with the narrative most of the national media perpetuates, regarding Allen and Jackson.

Jackson is often depicted as "blacker" than the average black quarterback. Former ESPN host Jemele Hill tried to explain to Dan Le Batard last year why the black community champions Jackson over other black quarterbacks in the NFL: 

"Lamar Jackson reminds me so much of Allen Iverson. Iverson had a lot of the same elements as Lamar Jackson. He has the cool, the swag, the tattoos, the cornrows. Culturally, he was the people's champ. That is Lamar Jackson. There are a lot of black people who culturally relate to Lamar Jackson."

Dennis attempted to make the same point in his article.

"There’s another reason Jackson has developed such an emotional connection to Black fans: he represents a type of Black quarterback and athlete that has been much-maligned, even in contrast to other prominent Black quarterbacks who are his contemporaries, namely Patrick Mahomes … Lamar Jackson is something different. He wears platinum grills to the field. He talks with a deeply southern Florida accent."

Put simply, the media portrays Jackson and Allen as lead characters of the race war. They portray Jackson as the blackest of black quarterbacks (sounds racist, no?) and Allen as the big bad white guy who infringes on "The Era of the Black Quarterback."

No, really. 

An ESPN VP encouraged fans to root for Jackson to beat Allen to complete a superfecta of all-black quarterbacks on championship Sunday next week.

Allen ruined the fun.

Based on the discourse, the media has successfully divided sports fans on the topic of Allen and Jackson. However, neither Allen nor Jackson asked to participate in the race war. Moreover, neither has embraced their roles as cast.

"I give Lamar credit, I’ve never actually heard him that much try to push this agenda," former ESPN writer Steve Kim said on The Blaze on Monday. "This guy just wants to play ball."

Indeed.

This is not Cailtiln Clark vs. Angel Reese, where the latter has tethered herself to the former to achieve fame. Reese wants to be the black girl who saves the WNBA from the little white girl from Iowa. Lamar Jackson just wants to play football. So does Josh Allen.

Jason Whitlock also lamented on Monday how the race clowns turned the biggest game of the year this far into a mess of racial division.

"We got to wash out the race clowns who tried to turn Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson into a race war. The race clowns have interfered with those of us who just want to enjoy Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen," Whitlock began on "Fearless."

"They nearly ruined a magical football game for a lot of people. I don't think people can properly appreciate Lamar Jackson because they have been baited into the race war that the race clowns want us to evaluate all the sports through."

He's so right.

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens and Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills embrace after the AFC Divisional Playoff gameat Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York.  (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Let us turn to the first person. I am guilty. 

I rooted for Allen to beat Jackson on Sunday – but not because I have anything against Jackson. In fact, Jackson was my favorite player during the 2019 season, when he unexpectedly emerged as the most exciting quarterback since Michael Vick. However, Jackson has since become an avatar of the race clowns, as Whitlock accurately deems them.

I rooted against Jackson on Sunday as a means to root against the racially obsessed media commentators who cheer for him, but only to further their divisive narratives. We are referring to Jemele Hill, David Dennis, Sarah Spain, Skip Bayless, RGIII, Stephen A. Smith, and so many others.

Likewise, I rooted for Josh Allen because of how angry his win would make those same nasty buffoons.

But that was wrong of me. It distracted me from appreciating how great – err – how all-time great Jackson and Allen are. And they both are. Further, they are both so much better than the people on television who try to minimize them as merely black and white. They are so much more than that; both of them.

Here was OutKick founder Clay Travis after the game:

"Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are better than all of the racebaiting media who cover them and try to divide sports fans with petty racial drama. Good for both of them. Two of the four best QBs in the NFL."

They sure are, along with Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow.

Mahomes and Burrow were, however, not cast in the race war. Mahomes has a white mother and wife. Burrow is white but often posts about abortion and rap culture on X. Meaning, they are not as black or as white as Jackson and Allen supposedly are.

Lucky for them.

The lesson here is that we, as sports fans, cannot let the screenwriters of the race war win. They win when we allow their hustle to infringe on our fandom. They, in many ways, won on Sunday.

The race clowns aren't going away. Still, we can defeat them. We can defeat them by dismissing them – just like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have, and continued to do on Sunday.