The Detroit Lions secured a 38–30 road win over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, overwhelming Lamar Jackson with seven sacks. After holding a 21–14 lead, the Ravens collapsed, allowing 24 unanswered points before adding a meaningless touchdown with just 29 seconds remaining. However, away from the NFL, the Ravens quarterback is a doting father to one daughter, Milan Jackson. Following his efforts during last night's game, HELLO! takes a closer look at the athlete's life away from the sporting world, including his relationship with his daughter and family dynamic.
Lamar welcomed his daughter on January 4, 2021, but has kept most details about her private, never publicly announcing her birth or revealing her name at the time. To date, he has not confirmed the identity of Milan’s mother.
The quarterback broke the news that he was a father when he shared a photograph of his daughter dressed as Pebbles from The Flintstones on his Instagram Story in celebration of Halloween. A few days later, a reporter referred to the child as "Lani" during an interview with the athlete following a game. Lamar corrected the mistake and confirmed his child's name. "Her name is Milan," he said. "I just call her Lani."
To usher in Milan's 1st birthday in 2022, the doting father shared an Instagram carousel of sweet snaps. "Happy 1st Girl day Mami," he penned over the pictures. One shot captured Milan smiling for the camera with food on her face while the following image showed her playing in the snow dressed in a stylish Moncler white snowsuit. "She not messing with the cold," wrote Lamar.
Lamar’s parenting style is clearly influenced by his mother, Felicia Jones, with whom he shares a close bond. Felicia raised Lamar as a single mother after he tragically lost both his father and grandmother on the same day when he was just eight years old.
"If she can do that, I can do anything," he said at a press conference. "This woman’s a superhero to me." "A lot of people helped me get better when I was young, but the best coach I’ve ever had was also my first one: Mom," he penned in an essay for The Players’ Tribune. "And I’m not saying that just because she looked out for me and encouraged me to pursue football and all that stuff. I mean she actually made me grind to get better."