Jaxson Walls

Opposing the McCauley Rules

Jaxson entered the NFL in 2018, before the McCauley Rules were introduced in 2020. Having played under both systems, he believed the new protections fundamentally changed football’s physical nature.

Jaxson believed players knowingly accepted football’s physical risks and opposed public outrage dictating policy. He accepted hard blindside hits during live play and hits on exposed receivers attempting catches as part of the sport.

He said, “It’s a grown man’s sport, you’re expected to get hit if you can’t handle some rough play without crying you shouldn’t be playing.” He also resented critics discounting his career because of the offensive environment, calling himself the “Unanimous G.O.A.T In any other Era.”

When challenged about benefiting from the protections, he argued that other quarterbacks received the same advantages and that he neither wanted nor needed them: “It’s like playing bowling with the guardrails up when your a pro bowler, it’s stupid as fuck”. Zach disagreed with Jaxson’s position but respected his right to argue.

After the commissioner’s private opposition was exposed in 2037, Jaxson treated the recording as vindication and demanded repeal. He later resented Tyrese keeping him off the reform podium but cooperated. In 2060, he supported the completed reforms as a workable compromise.

Childhood and upbringing

Jaxson grew up in a normal, loving household in Phoenix. He was competitive, argumentative and self-assured from childhood.

High school and recruitment

Jaxson was already dominant and vocal in high school. His talent drew serious attention, but an obvious ‘my way or the highway’ quality shaped how programs and later professional scouts evaluated him. By Arizona State, he was viewed as a generational arm attached to a potentially serious personality risk.

Childhood Cardinals fandom

Jaxson was a lifelong Arizona Cardinals fan and also supported the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks. His father, Everitt Walls, played in the NFL from 1985 through 2000, including four seasons with Arizona from 1997 through 2000.

He attended his first Cardinals game with Everitt in Week 2 of the 2008 season, when Arizona defeated Matthew Hall and Buffalo 29–20. He also attended Weeks 6 and 14, the NFC Championship and Super Bowl XLIII that season.

His favorite players included quarterbacks Kurt Warner, Carson Palmer and Everitt Walls, cornerback Patrick Peterson and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He owned jerseys of all five, including signed jerseys from Everitt, Warner and Palmer. His signed Warner jersey was framed in his house.

Arizona State · 2015–2018

Jaxson played three college seasons at Arizona State, using the academic-year designations 2015–2016, 2016–2017 and 2017–2018. His first campaign ended in a 28–20 Rose Bowl loss to Alabama.

Arizona State finished its 2016–2017 championship campaign 13–0 and defeated Clemson 33–18 in the National Championship Game. Jaxson passed for 5,180 yards, 53 touchdowns and five interceptions and won the 2017 Heisman Trophy in his second college season. The campaign was regarded as the greatest collegiate quarterback season of its era until Joe Burrow’s 2019 LSU season.

In 2017–2018, he passed for 4,207 yards, 39 touchdowns and twelve interceptions. Arizona State returned to the National Championship Game and lost to Clemson, 27–16. Jaxson entered the 2018 NFL Draft after that season.

He completed 990 of 1,424 college passes for 12,875 yards, 123 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. His completion percentage was 69.5%, with a 170.2 NCAA passing efficiency rating. He added 623 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns.

Arizona State and the 2018 NFL Draft

Jaxson played at Arizona State from 2015 through 2018 before entering the 2018 NFL Draft. A Heisman Trophy winner, he was once projected to go first overall. Scouting reports described him as a locker-room cancer with an uncompromising, my-way-or-the-highway mentality. He frequently fought with coaches, argued with teammates and claimed his success had made his coaches’ careers. His coaches often tried to discipline him but gave up when he pushed back, reinforcing his belief that his talent placed him above their authority. Some teams concluded that the good wasn’t worth the bad.

Draft-Night Interview — April 26, 2018

On April 26, 2018, Arizona traded its first-round selection at No. 15, third-round selection at No. 79 and fifth-round selection at No. 152 to Oakland for the tenth overall pick. The Cardinals selected Jaxson in the first round. He wore #14, his college number.

After Arizona selected him tenth overall, Jaxson shook the commissioner’s hand and posed with his Cardinals jersey.

Arizona Cardinals introductory press conference — 2018

2018 — Arizona rookie season

Jaxson started all sixteen games as Arizona finished 3–13. He completed 318 of 524 passes for 3,598 yards, 24 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, with 183 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He completed 60.7% of his passes and posted a 79.8 passer rating. He received no season awards.

His rookie season included three outstanding performances, three disastrous performances and a public dispute with head coach Steve Wilks. His talent and promising performances accompanied inconsistent play, turnovers and coaching disputes. Arizona’s record and his 21 interceptions contributed to concerns about his future.

October 18, 2018 — Week 7 against Denver

Denver defeated Arizona 45–10 on Thursday Night Football. Jaxson completed 15 of 35 passes for 158 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions. After his third interception, thrown after he changed a play at the line of scrimmage, he argued with Steve Wilks on the sideline.

Week 7 postgame — Steve Wilks

Jaxson returned to the bench and later threw his fourth interception.

Week 7 postgame — Jaxson Walls

October 19, 2018 — Offensive coordinator change

Arizona fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on October 19 and promoted Byron Leftwich. Jaxson remained the starting quarterback. The sideline argument added to concerns about his coachability.

2019 — Trade to the Los Angeles Rams

In the 2019 offseason, before the NFL Draft, the Rams acquired Jaxson Walls for their third-round selections in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Los Angeles initiated the transaction and actively pursued him.

Arizona moved on after his rookie season amid concerns about his decision-making, turnovers and ability to work with coaches. Kyler Murray became Arizona’s quarterback in 2019. Jaxson believed the Cardinals had given up on him prematurely after trading up to draft him the previous year.

2019 — Super Bowl LIV

In his second NFL season and first with Los Angeles, Jaxson led the Rams to a 10–6 record and a 31–23 Super Bowl LIV victory over Matthew Hall’s Buffalo Bills. He completed 27 of 38 passes for 267 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and received Super Bowl MVP.

Jaxson and Derek — 2019–2021

Jaxson joined the Rams through a trade from Arizona in 2019, the year Derek entered the NFL with Los Angeles. Jaxson already resented Derek’s decision to play wide receiver rather than quarterback, believing it disgraced the Walls family.

Their first season together was unbearable. Jaxson’s resentment affected the offense: he was willing to avoid throwing to Derek. Camden Ryder disciplined Jaxson, threatened his playing time and insisted that Derek receive the football when the offense called for it. Jaxson could complain all he wanted, but he was throwing Derek the ball.

Their second and third seasons were passable largely because Ryder forced them to cooperate. They never became friends. Derek eventually grew tired of the hostility, fought Jaxson and beat him, then demanded to leave Los Angeles after the 2021 season. The confrontation increased Jaxson’s hatred rather than earning his respect. Their mutual resentment continued after they stopped being teammates.

Marriage and fatherhood

Jaxson dated Kate Summers from 2016 to 2019. Their son, Maverick Walls, was born on June 16, 2017. Jaxson met Chloe Harper in 2025, and they married in 2029. Chloe is Maverick’s stepmother.

Chloe knew Jaxson more intimately than most people, but their relationship did not reveal a fundamentally different personality. He remained outspoken, sarcastic, stubborn, and argumentative at home. The difference was that he did not feel compelled to win every disagreement with her. He was comfortable conceding a point or letting an argument end without having the last word.

His relationship with Maverick was emotionally limited rather than hostile. There was no rupture or public falling-out, but Maverick grew up devoted to Matthew “Hollywood” Hall and never named his own father the GOAT. That verdict never changed, and there was no late reconciliation or softening of it.

Chloe Walls

Chloe was confident, direct and independent, while also quiet, observant, thoughtful, warm, patient and grounded. She met Jaxson in 2025 while working as a Football Operations Coordinator for the Rams. His confidence and passion, their conversations and their shared interests attracted her. Chloe privately knew that Camden had created the bounty scheme and that Jaxson had disapproved but protected him. Ryder’s August 12, 2048 confession later established his authorship publicly, although reactions remained divided.

Kate Summers

Kate was outgoing, playful and sarcastic, as well as confident, direct and independent. She and Jaxson met at a college campus event or party. They gradually grew apart and ended their relationship in 2019, but remained friendly and cooperative as Maverick’s parents.

Bountygate — discovery and complicity

Camden Ryder ran an illegal Rams headhunting operation from Week 13 of the 2022 season through Super Bowl LVII. Jaxson discovered it in Week 17 by observing what was happening around the team. He knew Ryder was responsible and confronted him privately. He had no role in creating, financing, managing or operating the program, recruiting defenders or directing injuries.

Jaxson hated the operation. His opposition to the McCauley Rules did not prevent him from recognizing the difference between physical football and paying defenders to injure opponents. He called Ryder an idiot and argued that a great defensive mastermind should not need to cheat. Ryder retaliated by attacking Jaxson’s credibility, Arizona departure and dependence on his coaching.

Camden Ryder: “What have you done? Lots of talk for someone who was nothing but an arrogant asshole before me. I was the two-time Super Bowl champion and the HC everyone wanted. You were a quarterback Arizona gave up on after one season. I can do whatever I want.”

The confrontation was verbal. When the scandal became public, Jaxson voluntarily protected Ryder. Accountability mattered to him, but so did loyalty, authenticity and winning. He despised snitching and betrayal, respected people who stood behind their convictions and believed retaining Ryder gave the Rams their best chance to keep winning. Ryder already knew he would not identify him; their understanding required no threat, instruction or bargain.

Jaxson knowingly protected Ryder to preserve their partnership and keep winning, despite opposing the operation. He did not regret his choice.

Bountygate — public silence and suspicion

Jaxson answered no public questions about Bountygate. He did not proclaim his innocence, admit knowing about the scheme, identify Ryder, confess to organizing it or arrange to take the blame. He made no deal with the commissioner. The public’s central question—“If you didn’t do it, tell us who did.”—went unanswered.

His silence attracted suspicion because he was the Rams’ most recognizable star, already widely disliked, openly confrontational and hostile to the McCauley Rules. Many believed he had masterminded the operation. Investigators had not formally identified him as the organizer. The league’s investigation was compromised.

The public learned that the program had ended after Super Bowl LVII, but its creator, motive and participants remained unidentified. Ryder’s role was not publicly established until his 2048 confession.

Bountygate — complaints and the 2023 discipline

In Week 18 of the 2022 season, Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray suffered an ankle injury and left the game. Officials ruled the tackle clean. Arizona nevertheless suspected deliberate targeting and complained about the Rams’ defensive conduct; the complaint did not change the official ruling on the tackle.

In the Divisional Round, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion from an illegal blindside hit and left the game. Under the McCauley Rules then in force, knowingly delivering prohibited blindside contact required mandatory replay review and ejection. The defender was ejected and separately suspended for one game for that hit. Green Bay filed a complaint. That suspension preceded, and was distinct from, the later Bountygate discipline.

In Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023, Los Angeles defeated Kansas City 29–20. Three dirty Rams hits drew penalties, but none produced an ejection. Patrick Mahomes remained healthy, and Kansas City escaped without injuries. The Chiefs filed a formal complaint. The three organizations acted independently; their complaints established a suspicious pattern, while injuries and penalties alone did not prove an organized bounty system.

The NFL began its first investigation in February 2023, after the Super Bowl and all three complaints. The inquiry appeared legitimate but deliberately made little meaningful effort to uncover the operation. In May, an outsider leaked a recording of an assistant coach and participating defender discussing bounties and rewards. The speakers remained publicly anonymous; neither Ryder nor Jaxson was named. The outsider’s identity and means of obtaining the recording remain unknown. It established that the operation existed without identifying its creator, motive or full membership.

After sustained pressure, the commissioner announced punishments in July 2023: eight games for Jaxson, three for Ryder and three first-round picks forfeited by the Rams. Participating defenders and assistants received no Bountygate suspensions. The separate one-game punishment for the hit on Rodgers still stood. Jaxson’s greater suspension reflected his visibility and suspicious silence, rather than proof that he had organized the program. Neither man publicly protested; both understood that the sanctions were lenient relative to the conduct.

After the leak, Murray and Rodgers publicly accused the Rams of deliberate headhunting. The NFLPA demanded that Los Angeles lose its Super Bowl LVII title. Kansas City stopped at its formal complaint and did not join that demand. The commissioner refused to vacate the championship. Jaxson’s 2022 championship and Super Bowl MVP remained recognized.

2023 — nine games and Co-MVP

The Rams started 2–6 during Jaxson’s eight-game Bountygate suspension. He returned and won all nine remaining regular-season games, bringing Los Angeles to 11–6.

He completed 293 of 413 passes for 3,945 yards, 28 touchdowns and one interception, with 42 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. His completion percentage rounded to 71%, with a 122.6 passer rating. He and Lamar Jackson received 24 NFL MVP votes each, sharing the award. The Rams beat Cincinnati 37–26 in Super Bowl LVIII.

Community Involvement and Charitable Giving

Throughout his career, Jaxson Walls regularly attended fan events, meet-and-greets, and other opportunities to interact with Rams supporters. He maintained a close relationship with the fanbase and genuinely enjoyed spending time with them.

Jaxson also made regular charitable donations under an assumed name, keeping his identity separate from the contributions. He did not publicize the donations or use them to promote his public image.

In personal interactions, Jaxson was capable of being friendly, considerate, and humble.

Retirement and NEFL ownership

After a career spanning 23 NFL seasons, Jaxson purchased the NEFL’s Boston Minutemen, relocated the franchise to Phoenix and renamed it the Arizona Rattlers. He also named the stadium field after himself.

The relocation was a spite-driven response to the Cardinals trading him. Mac’s earlier purchase of the Top Guns was unrelated.

Death

Jaxson Walls died from old age on January 23, 2095, at 98 years old.

Ryder and Jaxson — confrontation and loyalty

Jaxson respected Camden because Camden was not afraid of him. Ryder neither flattered him nor treated his talent as a reason to avoid confrontation. Early in their relationship, he tore into Jaxson for running his mouth, reminding him that he was a traded quarterback who needed to know his place and stop talking as though he were the next Peyton Manning.

That bluntness earned respect rather than destroying it. Jaxson wanted someone willing to stand behind his words, not automatic agreement. Ryder was simultaneously his biggest supporter and biggest critic: willing to fight with him, fight for him, and tell him to “Shut the fuck up.”

Ryder was instrumental in turning Jaxson from an unbearable teammate into someone capable of functioning within an NFL organization. Unlike his college coaches, Ryder consistently enforced discipline. He was not intimidated by Jaxson’s talent, reputation or confrontational personality. Players ran laps as punishment, and Ryder was willing to bench anyone who refused instructions. Jaxson could complain and argue, but he still had to execute the offense.

Jaxson protected Ryder even when he believed Ryder was wrong. They reinforced each other’s hostility toward the McCauley Rules.

August 12, 2048 — the confession

During an interview on August 12, 2048, retired Rams head coach Camden Ryder admitted that he had personally created and directed Bountygate. He identified defiance of the NFL’s safety restrictions, particularly the McCauley Rules, as his motive and said Jaxson Walls had played no part in creating or operating the system. He named no participating defenders or assistants and did not give a complete account of the operation.

Ryder spoke because he had nothing left to lose. Both men were retired, and their championship partnership was over. He offered no apology, expressed no remorse and continued to stand behind his worldview. He did not disclose the commissioner’s destruction of evidence, which remained secret.

Jaxson was largely indifferent. He had accepted the consequences of protecting Ryder decades earlier and had not spent those years awaiting public vindication. He gave no speech explaining his silence and did not celebrate the disclosure. The confession established that Ryder organized the operation; Jaxson’s knowing protection of him remained complicity. Some members of the public accepted that distinction, while others continued to distrust both men.

Respect, not universal likability

Jaxson cared intensely about his ability, arguments and legacy. After winning Super Bowl LXIII and completing the three-peat, he declared, “I deserve a seat at the table.” He wanted a place in GOAT discussions, even from people who hated him personally.

He was not detached or indifferent to being understood: he could argue for hours over something as trivial as the best cereal. He wanted to be right and recognized. He did not require people to like him.

Connor Banks: September 25, 2021

One day before the Rams’ Week 3 game against Cincinnati, a heated argument between Connor Banks and Jaxson escalated into a physical fight. Jaxson won, but Connor left with a black eye and Jaxson with a bloody, broken nose. Camden Ryder broke it up, berated both players and made them run laps.

Rather than holding the fight against Connor, Jaxson gained significant respect for a teammate who stood his ground and refused to be intimidated. Connor never regretted it: “I would do it again”.

Additional biographical details

Consensus ranking at retirement: #3 · 2040.

Championship progression

Five championships between 2022 and 2028 established unprecedented early dominance. Consecutive 20–0 seasons in 2026 and 2027 led into the first Super Bowl three-peat, 2026–2028. Jacksonville ended the four-peat attempt in LXIV, his only Super Bowl defeat.

From 2030 through 2036, his only championship came in 2033. San Francisco eliminated the Rams in the 2034 NFC Championship. His final title came in 2037. Los Angeles was eliminated in the 2039 Divisional Round; its revised 2040 playoff finish is not yet documented. He retired 8–1 in Super Bowls; his statistical greatness and six league MVP awards remain central to his argument against Mac’s reputation.

His revised career playoff record is not yet documented.

The Blizzard Bowl · 2023 playoffs

On January 15, 2024, Walls led the Rams back from 16–0 entering the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia 21–16 in the Blizzard Bowl. He passed for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 19 completions in 37 attempts, and rushed for two touchdowns. His 12-play, 84-yard no-huddle winning drive ended with an eight-yard touchdown after he recovered a botched snap. Daxton Roads’ goal-line forced fumble and recovery preserved the victory.

Arizona Cardinals · head-to-head record, 2019–2040

From 2019 through 2040, Jaxson went 42–0 against Arizona in regular-season starts and 2–0 in the postseason, finishing 44–0 as a starter. His postseason victories came in 2021 and 2034.

Los Angeles went 42–2 in the regular season and 2–0 in the playoffs against Arizona during those years, a combined 44–2. Arizona’s only victories were in Weeks 1 and 5 of 2023, during Jaxson’s eight-game suspension. The Rams started 2–6 without him; he returned to go 9–0 as a starter and won Super Bowl LVIII.