Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn't trying to start a firestorm on Twitter when he retweeted a post from Donald Trump on Saturday. He just liked that he was being lauded by the president.
"I saw him making a statement about me being a great pick, my teammate congratulating me and stuff like that," Jackson told reporters during a video conference Tuesday, per USA Today's Tom Schad. "I was just like: 'Appreciate that. Truzz.'"
Lamar Jackson @Lj_era8Truzz Trump
The retweet took off and ignited plenty of political debate, which Jackson is now trying to stem.
"I wasn't making no political statements or anything like that," Jackson said. "I was just, like I said, just agreeing to what he was saying about me and my teammate. That's all."
According to Schad, the Ravens began using "Truss" around the locker room last season, which became "Truzz" after the quarterback tried to trademark the word.
Baltimore Ravens @Ravens"Someone tried to sue me for Truss so I changed my S's to Z's!" @Lj_era8
Jackson has been spending his time in self-isolation working out and preparing for the 2020 season. While he said the possibility of playing in front of empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic would be weird for him, it's better than not having the NFL at all.
"The world needs football," he said. "I think we'll be playing football this year. I'm not going to put [the alternative] in my mind."
