Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson might have an unexpected admirer: President Donald Trump.
In between tweets praising a Republican U.S. Senate candidate and announcing a late-afternoon White House news conference, Trump responded to a post Saturday afternoon by Jackson.
Hours earlier, Jackson had shared a video in which former Louisville teammate and fellow 2018 first-round NFL draft pick Jaire Alexander reacts excitedly to the Ravens taking Jackson No. 32 overall. Jackson wrote, “Brodie,” slang for “brother,” and tagged Alexander in the tweet.
Trump quoted Jackson’s tweet and offered kind words: “Really nice to see this and, what a great pick!” It’s unclear whether he was referring to Jackson or Alexander. Jackson was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player last season, while Alexander, a Green Bay Packers cornerback, was a second alternate for the Pro Bowl.
Jackson quickly quoted Trump’s tweet and replied, “Truzz Trump.” It appears to be the first time Jackson has tweeted about Trump.
“Truzz” is an alternate spelling of “truss,” the mantra that defined the Ravens’ 14-win 2019 season. The word’s semantics are hazy, but wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who helped introduce “truss” to the Ravens’ locker room, described it last season as an affirmation, a kind of emphatic acknowledgment. “If somebody says something, you’re like, ‘Truss.’ Like, ‘Yeah.’ ”
Trump’s affection for the Ravens is murky; after the Titans’ upset divisional-round win to end the Ravens’ season, he tweeted, “Congratulations to the Great State of Tennessee. You’ve got yourselves a fantastic football team. Big WIN last night!” And the president has had unkind works for the city in the past as well, tweeting in July that the 7th Congressional District, which includes much of Baltimore, is “disgusting, rat and rodent infested.”
Less than an hour later Saturday, Trump was back to tweeting about politics and his media coverage.