Lamar Jackson Shares Madden 40-Yard Dash Struggles

Lamar Jackson will be the cover athlete on the NFL Madden 21 Video game. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback achieved the honor after cobbling up a record-breaking season. He set a record for most rushing yards as a quarterback and became only the second player to be unanimously awarded the regular season MVP. However, despite being the face of Madden 21, Jackson is expecting some struggles when the game makes its way to stores a few weeks before the NFL 2020 season begins.

Lamar Jackson finds the Madden 40-yard dash difficult

At the time of his draft in 2018, the Louisville prospect refused to participate in the dash. This is because he was peeved at being considered as a wide receiver. Later he shared that he could have made the distance in 4.3 seconds. However, virtual struggles are a thing for many, including the 23-year-old.

Sports nation tweeted a video via @theeblackbadger, which seems to show the combine. Here the virtual athlete stumbles along, stop-starts, regains his footing but lunges for the finish line akin to short sprinters. Eventually, the character makes it across with a horrendous time of 6 seconds. 

Like most gamers, the user grips the controller as he wonders what more he could have done. Lamar Jackson saw the video and offered his support. In doing so he let slip that virtual sprints are a task for him too. He tweeted, 

One wonders if the Ravens quarterback will get some sort of special feature, which allows his virtual dashes to feel more like the real-life sprints. 

Last week, Jackson retweeted various versions of the cover image and termed it a “dream come true.”

As Jackson enters his 3rd season, he will want to ensure that the Madden curse doesn’t strike him. He will be hoping to emulate Madden 20 cover star Patrick Mahomes’ trajectory and lift the Vincent Lombardi trophy in February. 

Until then though, Baltimore Ravens’ rivals can live with the knowledge that Jackson struggles with sprints, albeit in the virtual world. Can Tom Brady challenge the 23-year-old here instead and rescind his roller blades challenge?

Who else shares the video game’s 40-yard dash “impossible?”