It is oftentimes the sins of the father that derails the son when it comes to professional athletics. A story told throughout the NFL, many sons of former players have had to carry the underserved burden of their father's legacy with many automatically assuming the son has the same abilities as the father.
An unfair comparison, Quentin Lake is one of many current NFL players with a father who used to play in the league. Quentin Lake's father Carnell is a Steelers legend, having been inducted into their Hall of Fame and was a named member of the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team. Carnell was an All-American at UCLA, a second-round pick and a five-time All-Pro selection.
Lake would spend 13 years in the NFL before embarking on a coaching career. He would briefly leave the professional coaching ranks to be with his son Quentin during his last year in high school. Quentin would attend UCLA like his dad but failed to make his father's production with the Bruins, leading to his sixth-round selection in 2022. Carnell returned to coaching after Quentin graduated from UCLA.
However, Quentin has displayed the same type of mindset and approach to the game of football that made his father such a legendary DB for Pittsburg. Lake has been a crucial part of the Rams' turnaround, not missing a single snap all season. Lake's level of consistency and leadership has earned him the responsibilities of team captain and defensive signal caller.
Lake has worked closely with Chris Shula, helping coordinate an extremely young defense. Shula had this is say about his commander in the field.
"Huge credit to him for playing every snap. Obviously, we have one game left but up to this point, playing every snap for 16 games is such an awesome credit to him. We did have that vision, really after last season with what he was able to do moving to the star position," Shula said.
"Playing like he did and playing safety, we had that [vision] which is why his players and his peers voted him a captain. We had that vision of being able to move him around and play wherever we needed to fit the defense. He's excellent in coverage. He's a physical player. He is obviously really smart, so he is a guy that you can do a lot of different things with. He wants all that responsibility and he takes a lot of pride in having that responsibility. I don't know if we necessarily envisioned him having the green dot all the time, but that's not something that surprises me at all. Nothing would surprise me with Quentin Lake, just an excellent player and an even better person."
As Quentin carries on his family's legacy, he's looking to add the one thing his pops was never able to achieve. While a Super Bowl has escaped the grasp of the Lakes, Quentin looks poises to put on a postseason to remember, potentially walking away from 2024 with the coveted Lombardi.
Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and @MNSToday and never miss another breaking news story again.
Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as The Family Business: Quentin Lake Carries on Legacy From Legendary Father.