Baker Mayfield Needs To Focus On Himself And His Team
Baker Mayfield is arguably one of the biggest stars in the NFL already, and he’s just about to start his second season. He turned the Cleveland Browns from a joke to a possible Super Bowl contender in just a one-year span. He is everything you would want in a quarterback; he has heart, grit, ambition, and a chip on his shoulder that has been there his whole life. All of these characteristics are things that a lot of fans would want in their quarterback.
The problem is, Baker Mayfield can’t keep his thoughts to himself. The latest story out right now is that Baker Mayfield is ripping Daniel Jones, the 6th overall pick for the New York Giants, in an interview he did with GQ. Baker said, “I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones…blows my mind.” Baker then commented on the quarterback scouts saying, “some people overthink it. That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.” He goes on, “either you have a history of winning and being that guy for your team or you don’t.”
Now, Baker is a unique case. There are just some guys in sports who are winners in their life. Some people just succeed in almost everything they attempt because they have the utmost confidence in themselves, something Baker Mayfield definitely has. He also went to Oklahoma, a great college football school. Other people aren’t like that, though. They have their own path. Daniel Jones, for instance, has gone down a different path. Jones went to Duke, which is known for their basketball team, not their football team. It isn’t the most outlandish thing in the world that he didn’t win anything notable at his school during his time there. The talent around him just isn’t there.
Patrick Mahomes, who is considered the best player in the NFL entering the 2019–20 season, went 13–16 at Texas Tech when he was starting. He certainly wasn’t the ‘winner’ that Baker Mayfield says you need to be, yet he led his team to the brink of getting to the Super Bowl in his first full season as the starting quarterback in the NFL (he only started one game in his rookie season). He probably would’ve gotten to the Super Bowl if it wasn’t for an offsides on Dee Ford on the play that Tom Brady threw an interception towards the end of the game in the AFC Championship.
To be fair to Baker, everyone thought that the Daniel Jones pick by the Giants was a crazy one. That isn’t the point, though. Being the face of a franchise in the NFL comes with a lot of responsibility. No one is telling Baker to stop being the gritty, hard-nosed player that he is. What people should be telling Baker is to stop talking and tweeting. It’s just not smart to be talking about other quarterbacks like that. You don’t see Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Phillip Rivers, Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, or any other franchise quarterback, talking about other QBs and where they were drafted. At least not publicly. I’m sure Phillip Rivers, or someone like him, was surprised that the Browns took Mayfield 1st overall in 2018, but he didn’t come out and say it publicly.
We all will look extremely stupid if Daniel Jones turns out to be a stud. Every single fan and media member have ripped the pick by the Giants, many calling for Giants GM Dave Gettleman’s job. For Baker Mayfield, it’ll just be another thing he has said. Baker seems obsessed with his ‘haters’ and always wanting to prove them wrong. The problem is the more Baker talks, the more fuel he gives to people like Colin Cowherd, one of his biggest, most public critics.
The expectations on the Cleveland Browns are a bit overwhelming. Luckily, they have a quarterback like Baker Mayfield who seems to thrive under this type of environment. But what if this plan fails for the Browns? After all, this is a major gamble putting all of these massive egos together on one field. It’s a gamble most GMs would try to do, but it could explode just as quickly as it could succeed. If it fails, all of Baker’s talking and antics will be thrown back in his face. The media, led by Colin Cowherd, will start a timeline on why Baker has failed. Baker shotgunning beers at the Indians game? Should’ve been studying film instead. Doing an interview and photoshoot with GQ? Should’ve been hanging out and building chemistry with Odell Beckham Jr.
The Browns will have a tougher schedule than last year since they had a last place schedule from their 0–16 season, and last year they went 7–8–1. Along with their tough divisional games with the Steelers and Ravens, the Browns will have to face the Patriots, Rams, and Seahawks this year. If this whole thing fails, or Baker has a little bit of a sophomore slump, the media will try to bury Baker.
While Baker thrives under pressure, it is unclear how he will do if everyone turns against him. He is someone who tends to spend a lot of time on Twitter if you just look at some of his tweets, retweets, and likes. It’s always a tough situation with someone who is always paying attention to what others say or think about them, especially if you’re a famous athlete. It can become a distraction and get in the way of improving and get in the way of the team and of the main goal — which is winning.
Baker Mayfield is great for football and sports as a whole. He is someone the fans can root for, or the fans can despise. Polarizing figures in sports are always intriguing, and he is certainly polarizing. He seemingly can back up all of his talk from what we’ve seen from him in his rookie year. But regardless, he probably should stop some of the talking, unless it directly involves his team or their upcoming opponent. Any other distraction will only hurt Baker and the Browns as the weeks go on. As for Daniel Jones, the verdict is still out on whether he will be worth a 6th overall pick or not. Baker, on the other hand, should make sure that the Browns aren’t an overhyped team who can’t deliver the goods.
