Oklahoma Legend Baker Mayfield on Toby Keith: 'His Legacy will Forever Carry on'

Originally posted on Oklahoma Sooners on SI
By Carson Field | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 7:00 PM ET

Despite a 34-year age gap, Baker Mayfield and Toby Keith were close friends.

Keith, a country music star born in 1961, grew up in Moore. Mayfield, born in Austin in 1995, was Oklahoma’s starting quarterback for three years and won the Heisman Trophy in 2017.

Their mutual love for the University of Oklahoma and Sooner athletics built a friendship between the two until Keith’s passing in 2024.

“Rest in peace to Toby,” Mayfield said on Saturday at his youth football camp in Norman. “He’s somebody that loved life.”

Not many people embody Oklahoma like Keith did.

Keith released numerous albums throughout his music career and landed 20 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. He often paid homage to Oklahoma in his music.

He was also a die-hard Sooners fan. Keith was often spotted at various OU sporting events, building relationships with Sooner athletes, coaches and staff members.

In a different way, Mayfield became an OU legend during his time with the Sooners.

The quarterback began his college career as a walk-on at Texas Tech, where he spent one season. Mayfield then transferred to Oklahoma, redshirting in 2014.

From 2015 to 2017, Mayfield was OU’s starting quarterback, compiling a 33-6 record in that span. Mayfield became Oklahoma’s sixth Heisman Trophy winner in 2017, throwing for 4,627 yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions and leading OU to the Rose Bowl (College Football Playoff).

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Since graduating from OU, Mayfield has regularly returned to campus. And he’d always make time to tailgate with Keith and his son, Stelen, when he visited.

“Every tailgate Toby would have out here, he’d treat my family like his own,” Keith said.

In addition to Keith’s regular attendance at OU sporting events, he was a regular donor to the University.

But Keith’s charitable acts weren’t limited to sports.

Keith established the Toby Keith Foundation in 2006. According to the foundation’s website, its purpose is “to encourage the health and happiness of pediatric cancer patients and to support OK Kids Corral, a home for children battling cancer.

“Everything he did for this town and the state of Oklahoma in general, that’s a guy who gave his time and energy and a lot of resources to help everybody out,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield honored his late friend at Saturday’s youth camp, wearing a shirt with the name “Toby” written in large font. The shirt also contained the Oklahoma state outline, OU’s logo and the words “forever a Sooner.”

Mayfield has no doubts that the Sooners — and others throughout the state — will continue to carry the same passion that Keith had.

“It’s hard to see him go, but his legacy will forever carry on,” Mayfield said.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Sooners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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