Lamar Jackson is, as both a quarterback and public persona, one of one — uniquely, unabashedly himself, always. Sure, he appears in your prototypical Gatorade ads these days, but he’s also going his own way with building his brand.

This includes marketing his own unisex cologne, Night Lights. We began talking about buying a bottle a few weeks ago, so Ravens reporter Giana Han placed an order and we awaited shipment. When it arrived, we took some pictures of the bottle and then Giana toted it with her to a practice.

She asked fellow media members to try it on and offer their thoughts. Then, when the locker room opened up, she presented it to players and gathered their feedback on video. It made for a lovely, lighthearted look inside an NFL locker room and the ways Ravens players relate to Jackson, a team leader and the best player in football.

Or so we thought.

We published the story and video Monday morning, and by the evening it had gone viral because a popular Ravens account on X took a snippet of the video and misinterpreted the background conversation, telling more than 50,000 followers that Ravens players had said:

“It smells like George Pickens.”

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We bought a bottle of Lamar Jackson’s unisex cologne and let everybody try it

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“Soft. Yeah, smells just like that.”

Pickens plays wide receiver for Baltimore’s rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who just happen to be the Ravens’ wild card opponent on Saturday. How salacious! The Ravens, some sites insisted, needed only a day before giving the opponent bulletin board material.

The only problem? Giana shot the video last week, before the Ravens even knew they would be playing the Steelers, and the full video of Travis Jones talking reveals that the players near him were not comparing Pickens to the cologne; they were separately discussing somebody who resembles Pickens.

The actual quote about Pickens is:

“Yeah, just like that. Just the face alone, you wouldn’t even have to say the facial profile.”

Here, listen for yourself:

Predictably, the too-good-to-be true version of the quote soon spread to the most parasitic and nefarious accounts on the internet. By Tuesday, it was being picked up in article form, both nationally and locally.

The insinuation seemed to make sense: Pickens bickered with Steelers fans during the team’s fourth straight loss on Sunday, and the idea that he’s not tough enough has become popular among certain Pittsburgh fans. Of course Ravens players would be trolling him as they prepared for Saturday’s game.

Nah. Ravens players are — to a sports editor’s dismay, at times — mostly chill guys, just trying to win a championship. They wouldn’t rip an opponent while a reporter stands nearby with a phone clearly recording a teammate. They are savvy enough to know when a microphone is around, and to hold back from saying anything remotely provocative. They’re well-trained. Too well, maybe.

But in this case, nobody from the Baltimore Ravens compared Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens to a unisex cologne, or suggested he is soft.

But they did smell good.