Source: Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh To Be Honored As Player & Coach Of The Year By The Maxwell Football Club
A banner season for the Baltimore Ravens continues into the offseason with a major honor forthcoming for both head coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Sources tell SportsIllustrated.com that Harbaugh and Jackson will both be honored for their tremendous 2019 season by the Maxwell Football Club. The Philadelphia-based organization, best known for honoring the college player of the year with the Maxwell Award, will recognize Harbaugh as the Greasy Neale Professional Coach of the Year.
Jackson will be named the Bert Bell Award winner as professional football’s top player.
It was a successful season for the Ravens, despite their loss in the AFC Divisional Round. They went 14-2 in taking the AFC North and won their last 12 games.
In 2019, Jackson burst onto the scene in just his second year in the NFL, taking a successful rookie season a year ago to another level. His numbers were gaudy, with 3,127 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 15 starts. He also ran for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns.
This won’t be the first time that Jackson has been honored by the Maxwell Football Club. In 2016, Jackson won the Maxwell Award from the very same organization following an outstanding season at Louisville.
Harbaugh, who took over the Ravens sideline in 2008, is the winningest head coach in franchise history and also owns the highest winning percentage.
Both Jackson and Harbaugh are the heavy favorites to take home some similar hardware at the NFL Honors award ceremony, held on February 1 in Miami.
As for the Maxwell Football Club’s honors, the Ravens duo join some elite company, continuing a trend of head coaches and their quarterbacks tag-teaming to sweep the awards. Last year, the Greasy Neale Award was given to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and he was flanked by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the dais.
The year before that, fresh off their Super Bowl win, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Carson Wentz took their respective awards.
Harbaugh and Jackson will be honored at the club’s awards gala held in Atlantic City on March 6.
In addition, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (Maxwell Award) and Ohio State’s defensive end Chase Young (Chuck Bednarik Award for the nation’s top defensive player) will also be honored at the March event, to be held at the Tropicana.
