Louisville’s Malik Cunningham ‘little bit’ tired of Lamar Jackson comparisons, sees QB as ‘role model’

Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham is one of the more sensational quarterbacks in college football who can hurt defenses with his arm and his legs.

He admitted Wednesday that the comparisons to Lamar Jackson have gotten a bit tiresome but called the current Baltimore Ravens star a “role model.”

Jackson, who won an MVP with the Ravens, was also an electric quarterback who destroyed defenses with his blazing fast speed and his throwing ability as a member of Louisville. 

“I do get tired of it a little bit, but who wouldn’t want to be compared to Lamar? I mean, the great Lamar, in my opinion, the best college football player to ever play the sport. Just a role model to me, a big brother, and I’m thankful for a lot of the stuff that he does for me,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said he’s learned a lot from Jackson, mostly off the field.

“I would say I took a lot from him considering the type of person he was. More just off the field, how he helped his teammates around him, made the people around him better, just the type of guy he was. He always made everybody smile,” Cunningham said via 247 Sports.

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“That’s the biggest thing for me, is always putting a smile on my teammates’ face, the coaches’ faces, their family’s faces, their kids and the kids back home; then my nieces and nephews and my brothers in my family. That’s the biggest thing for me. Just making everybody happy and make people smile on their face.”

Cunningham is entering his senior season at Louisville. Last year, he had 2,941 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns to go along with 1,031 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. The Cardinals were 6-7 in 2021 and 4-4 against ACC opponents.

Entering the 2022 season, Cunningham was named to the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award watch list.