Lamar Jackson Calls Out Adam Schefter on Twitter Over Racial Bias Quote

Lamar Jackson appeared on the Season 5 premiere of The Shop with LeBron James that aired last night. Jackson and LeBron were joined by Donald Glover, J. Balvin, Quinta Brunson, Paul Rivera, and Maverick Carter. At one point, the discussion turned to racial bias against Black quarterbacks in the NFL and Jackson was presented as a prime example because there was so much discussion about whether he could make it under center at the professional level despite winning the Heisman Trophy at Louisville as a QB.

Carter explained to Brunson that there's a long history in football of decision-makers believing that Black players can't play quarterback because they don't have the mental capacity to do so. He then said that he believes the stigma is "dying off, but it's still there." LeBron echoed that sentiment, and Jackson then said "it's still there, that's why I need that championship." You can view the exchange below at the 19-minute mark.

This was the quote that got aggregated by ESPN's Baltimore Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley, who titled the article, "Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson says racial bias against Black quarterbacks 'still there' in NFL." In the article, Hensley framed the exchange as follows:

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said he still has something to prove being a Black quarterback in the NFL.

Jackson addressed the issue during an appearance on LeBron James' YouTube interview show "The Shop," which had its season premiere Friday.

When the discussion turned to how there has been a historical bias against Black quarterbacks, James said, "It's dying off, but it's still there."

Jackson responded, "It's still there. That's why I need that championship."

On Saturday morning, Adam Schefter tweeted his coworker's article and pulled the Jackson quote.

Jackson took issue with it and called Schefter out.

It appears Jackson's problem is that he was not asked if he thought there was still racial bias against Black quarterbacks, and feels that Schefter's tweet framed it like he was directly asked and answered accordingly. As you can see above, he was not directly asked.

In fairness to Schefter, it doesn't seem that whether or not Jackson was asked directly changes the sentiment of what he said. But the MVP quarterback clearly takes issue with how his quote is being construed in the media.