Baker Mayfield
Baker Reagan Mayfield is an American professional football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. Following one season of college football with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, he played for the Oklahoma Sooners, becoming the first walk-on player to win the Heisman Trophy. He was selected first overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL draft.
Mayfield set the NFL rookie quarterback record for passing touchdowns during his first year, along with ending a 19-game winless streak for the Browns in his debut. His most successful season with the team was in 2020 when he led the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002 and first playoff victory since 1994. Following a performance decline and conflict with Browns management, Mayfield was traded from Cleveland in 2022, spending the year with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.
In 2023, Mayfield joined the Buccaneers, leading the team to two consecutive division titles and a playoff victory. He also earned two consecutive Pro Bowl selections. Mayfield is currently the all-time leader in playoff passer rating.
Early life
Baker Reagan Mayfield was born on April 14, 1995, in Austin, Texas, to James and Gina Mayfield as the younger of two sons. James, a private equity consultant, encountered financial difficulties during his younger son's senior year in high school. These struggles forced the Mayfields to sell their home and live in rental homes. Mayfield was given his distinctive name, Baker, which was his mother's idea, under the condition by his father that he also be named after the 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan, which became his middle name.Mayfield grew up as a fan of the University of Oklahoma; he attended a number of their games during his childhood. His father played football for three years at the University of Houston, though he never lettered.
Mayfield was the starting quarterback for the Lake Travis High School Cavaliers football team in Austin. He led Lake Travis to a 25–2 record in two seasons and won the 2011 4A State Championship. He finished his high school football career totaling 6,255 passing yards, 67 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He was offered scholarships by Washington State, Rice, New Mexico and Florida Atlantic. Mayfield said "I easily could've gone to a place like Florida Atlantic, but my dad pushed me to realize that my dream was to play somewhere big." He chose to go to Texas Tech, where he was a walk-on.
College career
Texas Tech
2013 season
Shortly before the start of the 2013 season, Mayfield was named as the starting quarterback following a back injury to projected starter and former Lake Travis quarterback Michael Brewer. Mayfield was the first walk-on true freshman quarterback to start an FBS season opener at the quarterback position.In his first start against SMU, Mayfield passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns. His 43 completions of 60 attempts broke a school record held by Billy Joe Tolliver, and fell only four completions short of the NCAA Division I FBS single-game record for completions by a freshman, held by Luke McCown. For his performance, Mayfield was named Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week – the first freshman Texas Tech quarterback to be named so since former Red Raider head coach Kliff Kingsbury in 1999. The game featured the last four former Lake Travis quarterbacks combined on both teams: Garrett Gilbert, Michael Brewer, Collin Lagasse, and Mayfield.
Following the Red Raiders' second victory over Stephen F. Austin, Mayfield's 780 season yards and seven touchdowns already exceeded the 755 yards and six touchdowns accrued by Texas Tech's last true freshman quarterback, Aaron Keesee, in 10 games. After being affected by a knee injury and losing the starting job to fellow true freshman Davis Webb, Mayfield finished the season with 2,315 yards on 218-of-340 completions with 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
Mayfield was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy in November; the award is given to the best player in Division I football who began his college career as a walk-on.
Mayfield earned Big 12 Conference Freshman Offensive Player of the Year for the 2013 season. Mayfield announced that he would be leaving the program due to a "miscommunication" with the coaching staff.
Oklahoma
2014 season
After playing for Texas Tech, Mayfield transferred to the University of Oklahoma in January 2014, but had not contacted the Sooners coaching staff. Mayfield further elaborated in an interview with ESPN that he sought to transfer due to scholarship issues and a perception that he had earned the starting position and that further competition was not "really fair". The alleged scholarship issues were denied by Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.In February 2014, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops confirmed that Mayfield would be walking on for the Oklahoma Sooners. Mayfield was not eligible to play until the 2015 season, and he lost a season of eligibility due to Big 12 Conference transfer rules following an unsuccessful appeal of his transfer restrictions.
2015 season
On August 24, 2015, Mayfield was named the starting quarterback for the Sooners after winning an open quarterback competition against Trevor Knight. On September 6, 2015, Mayfield started against Akron. Mayfield totaled 388 passing yards with three passing touchdowns on 23 completions in the 41–3 win. In the second game of the 2015 season, Mayfield started at Tennessee at Neyland Stadium. The Sooners were ranked 19th at the time and the Volunteers were ranked 23rd. Mayfield started off very slow in the game, not even reaching midfield until the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Oklahoma came back from a 17-point deficit to win the game by a score of 31–24 in double overtime. Mayfield threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 19 completions while throwing two interceptions early in the game. In the third game of the season, Mayfield started against Tulsa. He had a career day, throwing for 487 yards and four touchdowns, including 316 yards in the first half. Mayfield also ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns in the 52–38 win.Mayfield finished the year with 3,700 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, a résumé which propelled him to fourth place in voting for the Heisman Trophy. Mayfield helped lead Oklahoma to the 2015 Orange Bowl, which served as the semifinal for the 2015 College Football Playoff. However, Oklahoma lost to Clemson by a score of 37–17.
2016 season
Mayfield started off the 2016 season with 323 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 33–23 loss to #15 Houston. In the rivalry game against Texas on October 8, he had 390 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 45–40 victory. On October 22, in a 66–59 victory over Texas Tech, Mayfield had 545 passing yards and seven touchdowns in a historic matchup against future NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes tallied 734 passing yards and five touchdowns to go along with Mayfield's numbers in a game that broke various single-game passing records. Over the final five games of the regular season, Mayfield totaled 1,321 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, and three interceptions, to go along with three rushing touchdowns. All five games were victories for the Sooners.In December 2016, it was announced that Mayfield and his top receiving target, Dede Westbrook, would be finalists for the 2016 Heisman Trophy. It was also announced that they would play in the 2017 Sugar Bowl. Mayfield ended up finishing third in the Heisman voting.
In the 2017 Sugar Bowl, Mayfield helped lead the Sooners to a 35–19 victory over Auburn. He finished the game with 19 completions on 28 attempts for 296 passing yards and two touchdowns, earning him the MVP award.
Mayfield led the NCAA that season with a completion percentage of 70.9% and a passer rating of 196.4.
2017 season
On September 9, 2017, after a win against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Mayfield planted the Sooners' flag in the middle of the painted "O" at Ohio Stadium, causing a major public backlash. Mayfield issued an apology shortly afterwards.On November 4, 2017, Mayfield threw for a school-high 598 yards against in-state rival Oklahoma State. Mayfield finished 24-for-36 with five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, and Oklahoma won the game by a score of 62–52. Mayfield completed his career 3–0 as the starting Oklahoma quarterback in the Bedlam Series.
In November 2017, Mayfield was under fire again after an interaction during the game against Kansas. After Kansas players refused to shake his hand pregame, and following a cheap shot by a Kansas defender, Mayfield was seen grabbing his crotch and mouthing "Fuck you!" at the Kansas coach on the sideline, and told the fans to "Go cheer on basketball." In response, Mayfield issued another public apology. Days after the 41–3 victory over Kansas, Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley announced that Mayfield would not start or be the captain during the upcoming game against West Virginia due to his actions against Kansas.
On December 2, 2017, with the return of the Big 12 Championship Game after a six-year hiatus, Mayfield led Oklahoma to its third straight Big 12 championship, with Oklahoma beating the TCU Horned Frogs 41–17. Mayfield won MVP honors while Oklahoma clinched a second playoff berth in three years. A month later, the Sooners lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 54–48 in the 2018 Rose Bowl, which served as the national semifinal game.
Mayfield again led the NCAA in both passer rating and completion percentage, posting a 198.9 passer rating and a 70.5% completion percentage.
On December 9, 2017, Mayfield won the 2017 Heisman Trophy with a sweeping majority. He received 732 first-place votes and a total of 2,398 points. This amount translated to 86% of the possible points and the third highest percentage in Heisman history. In addition, Mayfield became the first and only walk-on player to ever win the Heisman Trophy.