helmet

Lamar Jackson will not be disciplined by the NFL for shoving a Buffalo Bills fan who slapped the helmets of the Baltimore Ravens quarterback and teammate DeAndre Hopkins during a game Sunday night in Orchard Park, N.Y.

“The matter has been addressed by the club and there is no further action from the league,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement emailed to The Times on Thursday.

A Ravens spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Times on Thursday that the situation had been handled internally.

“Our players’ safety is of the utmost importance,” the team spokesperson said. “We have spoken to Lamar, who understands the impact of the situation, about the incident.

“While we will keep internal matters private, we have implemented additional security protocols — both at home and on the road — to better protect our players and handle negative fan interactions moving forward.”

Jackson and Hopkins were celebrating with teammates after they hooked up for a 29-yard touchdown reception late in the third quarter to give the Ravens a 34-19 lead. The players exited the back of the end zone and ended up near stands, where a male fan reached out and slapped Hopkins and Jackson on their helmets.

Jackson gave the fan a hard shove with both hands. While the fan was ejected from the game, and later indefinitely banned from all NFL stadiums, Jackson was not disciplined during the game.

The two-time league MVP later expressed regret for his actions.

“I seen him slap D-Hop … and he slapped me and he talking, so you know I just forgot where I was for a little bit,” Jackson told reporters after the Ravens’ 41-40 loss to the Bills. “But you got to think in those situations. You have security out there. Let security handle it. But I just let my emotions get the best of me. Hopefully, it don’t happen again. I learned from that.”

Addressing reporters the next day, Ravens coach John Harbaugh expressed support for his quarterback.

“Lamar’s down there celebrating a touchdown with his teammates just like you’re supposed to do,” Harbaugh said. “You talk about celebration and we want our guys to celebrate with one another. That’s the whole idea. I guess I didn’t know you’re not allowed to go close to the stands to do that without being attacked by a fan. …

“It’s unfortunate that you should even be in that situation. I don’t know how any of us would respond in that moment. I think it would be something where we probably would be thinking about protecting ourselves. I do think that. We have to understand that. You can always say, ‘Hey, I’d like to handle that a little better.’ But that’s a surprise when that happens in that moment, I think, for anybody.”

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson expressed regret Sunday night for shoving a Buffalo Bills fan in the stands after the fan had slapped the helmets of Jackson and teammate DeAndre Hopkins as they celebrated a touchdown next to the stands at Highmark Stadium in upstate New York.

“I seen him slap D-Hop … and he slapped me and he talking, so you know I just forgot where I was for a little bit,” Jackson told reporters following the Ravens’ surprising 41-40 loss to the Bills on “Sunday Night Football”.

“But you got to think in those situations. You have security out there. Let security handle it. But I just let my emotions get the best of me. Hopefully, it don’t happen again. I learned from that.”

In a matchup between the two most recent NFL MVPs — Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen in 2024 and Jackson in 2023 — Hopkins made a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch late in the third quarter to give the Ravens a 34-19 lead. Hopkins and Jackson were among a number of Baltimore players who exited the back of the end zone to celebrate the score.

As several of those players walked past the stands, a fan reached out and slapped Hopkins on the helmet, then did the same to Jackson. The four-time Pro Bowl player, who also won the league’s MVP award in 2019, responded by shoving the fan hard with both hands, which knocked the fan backward.

The Bills reported that the fan was ejected from the game. Jackson was not disciplined during the game. The Times reached out to the NFL and the Ravens about whether Jackson might face any discipline for his role in the incident and did not receive immediate responses.

While he regrets his actions in this instance, Jackson told reporters he doesn’t see the need to stop celebrating so close to opposing fans.

“I’ve never seen our fans do that, so I’ll probably do it again [when] we score a touchdown,” Jackson said. “But it’s nothing against the fans, you know? I’m just celebrating my teammate scoring a touchdown.”

There wasn’t any celebrating to be had by the Ravens at the end of the game, however, after they squandered a 40-25 lead in the final four minutes. Allen capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman to pull the Bills to within eight.

Two plays later, Baltimore running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, fumbled the ball away to give Buffalo possession on the Ravens’ 30. The Bills scored on a 1-yard Allen run but missed on the two-point conversion to trail 40-38 with 1:58 remaining.

The Ravens went three and out on the next possession, and the Bills drove 66 yards in nine plays to set up a 32-yard, game-winning field goal by Matt Prater as time expired.

The lion’s amber gaze fixes forward on Nate Landman’s left bicep, its mane fanning across the curve of his arm. Above Landman’s wrist, a zebra bends to graze, while a giraffe behind steps through a stand of wind-bent acacia trees.

Together, they form a tattooed sleeve of Zimbabwe — an inked landscape of home carried by the Rams’ newest defensive signal-caller.

“There’s not many Zimbabwe migrants in the United States,” Landman said, “so to represent my country and have this platform to do it is huge.”

Rams linebacker Nate Landman shows tattoos on his left arm of a lion, giraffe and zebra from his native Zimbabwe.

(Ira Gorawara / Los Angeles Times)

At age 4, Landman’s family of six traded the southern tip of Africa for Northern California, chasing wider playing fields and educational opportunities for their children. Twenty-two years later, the red soil and wild coastlines of his first home still ride with him — in the way he stalks, strikes and erupts.

So when tight end Davis Allen cut through a seam and caught a pass during Saturday’s training camp session, Landman tracked him with the patience of a predator. He measured each step, sprang forward and then uncoiled, thumping the ball out of Allen’s grip to send it skidding to the turf.

After witnessing several of those jarring shots, safety Quentin Lake coined the nickname “Peanut Punch Landman,” a nod to Landman’s ability to force fumbles.

“He has just a knack for the ball,” Lake said.

The Atlanta Falcons were the first to detect that hunch, scooping Landman out of Colorado as an undrafted rookie. In each of the last two seasons, he forced three fumbles.

That instinct — and the trust he’s earned — fast-tracked Landman’s role with the Rams. Signed as a free agent in March, Landman wasted little time winning over Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, who stuck a green dot on Landman’s helmet, designating him as a commander of the defense.

“The way that he understands the game, he’s able to talk to everybody on the defense,” Rams inside linebackers coach Greg Williams said. “It was almost a no-brainer when coach Shula came to me and said, ‘I think Nate should have the green dot.’”

And for the Rams, that leadership and knack for creating turnovers came at a bargain. In a defense that doesn’t spend big at linebacker, Landman — who signed a one-year, $1.1-million contract — arrived as a low-cost addition with high potential return.

“He’s a great communicator. He’s got great command. He’s got the ability to elevate people,” coach Sean McVay said, adding, “I just like the way that this guy’s got a great vibe.”

Before Landman became an on-field general for the Rams, he was in teacher mode, offering teammates a primer that had nothing to do with playbooks.

During a team meeting, Landman unfurled a map of Africa, tracing its outline with his finger before shading the small patch of land he calls home — wedged right above South Africa — to give his locker room a visual pin on where his story began.

“A lot of guys don’t know that Africa, the continent, is full of just individual countries,” Landman said. “They think it’s states and stuff. So it’s cool to be able to share that with them — not everybody believes when I say I’m from Africa.”

Amid that crash course, one question kept resurfacing.

Are there lions and deer roaming around?

“A lot of people are fascinated,” Landman said. “It’s such a rare thing, that’s why I’m so proud of it.”

Though it’s been a few years since Landman last stood on Zimbabwean soil, his family ties still tether him there. And as football sent him crisscrossing the United States, his homeland’s hues and emblems have come along for the ride.

The tattoo sleeve climbs into his chest, framing a map of Africa with Zimbabwe shaded deep. He still eats sadza nenyama , the maize-and-meat staple that fed his childhood. And in his parents’ home, light falls on a gallery of African vignettes and keepsakes.

His helmet bears the same allegiance, Zimbabwe’s flag tagged proudly on the back.

“I love wearing that Zimbabwe flag on the back of my helmet,” Landman said, “and I’ll do that as long as I’m in the NFL.”