Johnny Unitas, regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time, played at Louisville from 1951-1954. He went on to play for the then-Baltimore COlts from 1956-1972, bringing them Super Bowl V and three NFL championships (1958, 1959, and 1968). Unitas also won the MVP three times.

Fast forward a few decades, and the Cardinals got Lamar Jackson. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 2016 before being selected by the now-Baltimore Ravens with the No. 31 pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson, now 27 and the Ravens’ starter, won the MVP in 2019 and 2023.

Jackson had a slow start to his college career but broke out in 2016 as a sophomore. As the starter, Jackson became the youngest-ever recipient of the Heisman after finishing Louisville’s 9-4 season with 3,543 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and nine interceptions to go along with 260 carries for 1,571 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.

While at Louisville, he also overlapped with Donovan Mitchell. The five-time NBA All-Star played basketball at Louisville from 2015 to 2017 before declaring for the draft. Now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mitchell also had a breakout sophomore season in 2016, averaging 15.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game and being named First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

Their friendship is well-documented: One that began when they bumped into each other on campus as a true freshman.

Mitchell elaborated on their shared time together at Louisville on “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero,” a podcast with the former NBA star and New York comedian.

Mitchell said Jackson was so popular on campus that the men’s basketball team would get up early on Saturday mornings to tailgate football games.

​​”The game’s at 1 o’clock, he got the basketball team up at 6 a.m., tailgating with the students. [Because] we [were] like, ‘This sh*t finna be a show,'” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said Jackson would also join in on dunk contests with the basketball team and he’d be “windmilling, throwing it off the wall.”

But more notably, Mitchell recalled a sweet perk that Jackson got in 2016 when the quarterback and the Cardinals team took off.

The two were in every class together as freshmen, but then one day as sophomores, Jackson stopped showing up because all of his classes got moved to “online.”

“Just like that,” Mitchell said to laughs.

Jackson and the Ravens have some work to do this season. After making it to the AFC Championship game last year, Baltimore started their season 0-2. After a big win on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, the reigning MVP hopes to win their second game Sunday night when they host the undefeated Buffalo Bills.