Jenna Laine
TAMPA, Fla. — Baker Mayfield has seen the notion himself change dramatically from the time he was a primary total draft choose with the Cleveland Browns to being what some have described as an MVP candidate in his third yr with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A video emerged after the Bucs' 38-35 victory on the Seattle Seahawks of Mayfield responding to trash speak from a Seahawks fan within the tunnel simply earlier than kickoff. Fingers have been pointed. Expletives have been exchanged.
“You are gonna be actual f—ing quiet at halftime,” Mayfield stated. “You are a f—ing p—y.”
Mayfield sought out the fan after the victory too, during which he pointed at him whereas triumphantly skipping into the tunnel, with the fan yelling, “You continue to suck! You continue to suck!”
In Cleveland, the place the Browns chosen him first total within the 2018 NFL draft and the place he in the end went 29-30 earlier than being traded in 2022 to the Carolina Panthers, that alternate might have been obtained in a different way.
However as a member of the Bucs, with a 4-1 begin to the 2025 season, having led his staff to 4 thrilling come-from-behind victories throughout the last minute, it feels completely different. And people are probably the most by any staff in its first 5 video games because the 1970 merger, in response to Elias Sports activities Bureau.
“Early on in my profession, it was ‘cocky, immature.' Now it is ‘moxie' and ‘he is a canine.' Similar s—, completely different day,” Mayfield stated Wednesday. “So long as you play effectively, they alter the narrative, however you've got simply received to be your self, and I've at all times been like that.”
He had simply turned 23 years outdated when he entered the NFL. It took a four-team odyssey for him to seek out his footing long-term, the place he is taking part in among the greatest soccer of his profession at age 30. He has stated on a number of events that the Bucs “let me be myself,” and he believes that has helped him propel them to 2 division titles within the post-Tom Brady period.
Away from soccer, he and his spouse of six years, Emily, have a daughter, Kova Jade, who will flip 2 in April, and the household has been very lively within the Tampa Bay neighborhood. Their charity, the Baker and Emily Mayfield Basis, which they launched earlier than he was even formally named the starter in 2023, is thought for supporting lesser-known nonprofits. That and his blue-collar model of quarterbacking has resonated with the fan base. However there has additionally been a rising variety of followers throughout the league rooting for Mayfield as he continues to jot down his comeback story.
“On the core, positively the identical, however matured in several methods,” Mayfield stated. “I am not anxious about little issues that do not matter. Now in case you put it within the panorama of a aggressive soccer recreation — in that environment — that'll by no means change.”
Bucs broad receiver and former College of Oklahoma teammate Sterling Shepard, who has gotten a entrance row seat to Mayfield's turnaround in Tampa, but additionally his trash speak, stated, “He is not scared to chew again at any person that is making an attempt to go at him, and all of us love that about him. … We love that vitality and all people feeds off of him.”
Outdoors linebacker Haason Reddick, who signed with the Bucs this offseason to attempt to get his personal profession again on monitor after a down yr in 2024, has felt that jolt on the opposite aspect of the ball.
“We received nothing however confidence in Bake. He is achieved it time and time once more already this season,” Reddick stated. “Undoubtedly my fave for MVP candidate as of proper now. He is balling at an unprecedented stage.”
