Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield has certainly kept busy during the team’s bye week.
Earlier this week, he appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, discussing his and Tampa Bay’s start to the season, among other things. He then made an appearance at the Tampa Bay Rays’ American League Wild Card game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. And despite his roots as a Rangers fan, he showed up to Tropicana Field wearing a Kevin Kelly Devil Rays jersey after the Rays rookie relief pitcher was made to dress in a full Bucs uniform – complete with a Baker Mayfield No. 6 jersey – on Sept. 24.
Then, on Thursday, Mayfield and Vince Young partnered with Raising Cane’s in Dallas for a drive-thru showdown ahead of Saturday’s Red River Rivalry matchup between Mayfield’s Oklahoma Sooners and Young’s Texas Longhorns. On Friday, it sounds like he’ll be on The Pat McAfee Show from the Texas State Fair as well.
The Bucs’ signal-caller’s busy week will (seemingly) wrap up Saturday with an appearance as the guest picker on College GameDay, followed by the Oklahoma-Texas game itself.
Mayfield made the announcement himself on Instagram as well.
“Hey everybody, got some big news – some of the biggest news of my life, that’s for sure,” Mayfield said in an Instagram Reel. “Saturday morning, 11:30 eastern, gonna be on ESPN’s College GameDay with the fellas. Gonna be guest picking. Not so fast, my friend. Boomer Sooner this weekend. It’s a big game. We got ’em.”
Baker Mayfield is an Oklahoma legend, of course, having won the Heisman Trophy as a Sooner in 2017. In that season, he completed 70.5% of his passes for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns to only six interceptions. He was the first player since the NCAA started allowing scholarships in 1950 to win the Heisman after starting his career as a walk-on.
Mayfield walked on at Texas Tech in 2013 before transferring to Oklahoma, and from 2015-2017 with the Sooners, he threw for 12,292 yards and 119 touchdowns to 21 interceptions. He and Oklahoma lost to Texas in the 2015 edition of the Red River Rivalry, but they came back with a vengeance to win it in his final two seasons. He threw for 390 yards and three touchdowns (and ran for one) in a 45-40 win in the 2016 game before a 29-24 win in 2017 that saw him surpass 300 yards again and throw for two touchdowns.
Baker Mayfield Reestablishing Himself As A Name To Know
Baker Mayfield came to Tampa Bay this offseason looking to revive his career after a rough calendar year that saw him ditched by the Browns and traded to the Panthers, who later waived him midseason. He ended 2022 with the Rams, but it certainly wasn’t how he foresaw the final year of his rookie contract going.
The dropoff for Mayfield came fast, and it felt more circumstantial than anything. He was the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner and 2018 No. 1 overall pick who was a regular in commercials and then became the first quarterback to lead the Browns to a playoff win since 1995. But after an injury-riddled 2021 season, Mayfield was pushed to the side by the Browns in favor of Deshaun Watson. That left Mayfield in a bad situation with Carolina before he ended up with Sean McVay in Los Angeles.
Including Todd Bowles with the Bucs, Mayfield has played under eight head coaches during his first six NFL seasons. And so far in 2023 under Bowles and offensive coordinator Dave Canales, the former No. 1 pick is starting to revitalize his career.
During the Bucs’ 3-1 start, Mayfield has completed 69.6% of his passes for 882 yards and seven touchdowns to two interceptions. He has given Tampa Bay what it needed after the retirement of Tom Brady, and Tampa Bay has given him what he needed after the ups and downs of 2018-2022: a chance.
Baker Mayfield’s story is a hot topic nationally these days, which is why it’s no surprise that he’s been a busy man during the team’s bye week. He’s reentered the spotlight, and he’s thriving in it. And while it’s still early and there’s a lot of work left for No. 6 and the Bucs to do, this has been a fun story of success and redemption.
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