Baker Mayfield Says He Still Doesn't Understand Why Browns Situation Soured | Pat McAfee Show

Heisman wins! Ladies and gentlemen, Baker, my friend. Came out here as soon as he got here. Oh, yeah. Okay, so, thank you for joining us. Oh, wait. There was a little bit of mischief. Hey, this is awesome. This is great. So, you grew up in Texas, obviously. Yeah, Austin. Hated Oklahoma? No, I hated Texas. Hold on, we don't know if this is on. Is this thing on? Good? We're good? I hated Texas. Really? Whole life? Grew up in their backyard, yeah. Yeah, my dad introduced me to a lot of the coaches on Switzer staff. So, growing up, I used to go to OU games all the time, and just right in the enemy town down there in Austin. I love everything about that. Feels like that's a part of your attitude and personality. Oh, yeah. Bi-week times are perfect with the rivalry. How pumped are you to be here? We're pumped you're here. I'm excited, man. Yeah, we're pumped you're here. Yeah, big fan of the show, but this couldn't have worked out any better. You're guest picker tomorrow, too, on game day? Oh, yeah. Are we going to see you on a megacast, too? I think so. Oh, my gosh! Well, I'm happy this is happening, and let's start talking about your life right now. Okay? How happy are you that it is working the way it's working in Tampa Bay? I mean, we'll dive into a bunch because we've obviously followed from afar and we're big fans of yours. But how happy are you about life right now as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback? I'm loving it. I mean, I think that's an understatement, but it's a great organization. The people are great. They know how to win. They know that it's all about winning. So I'm having fun again. I was telling people it kind of reminds me back in Oklahoma. It's just get the best guys in the field, all about football, no BS, and let's just get after it. Let's talk about the BS. Okay? So let's talk about that. So we, I grew up in Pittsburgh. Tyron grew up in Pittsburgh. So we very much understand the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Averill, okay? Whenever you're born, growing up, you hate Cleveland. I assume it's the same way in Cleveland. I didn't grow up there. But in Pittsburgh, you hate the city, you hate the team. When the Cleveland Browns left, everybody in Pittsburgh laughed in Cleveland's face, did not feel bad. Browns come back, same situation. So for you to be the Cleveland Browns quarterback that is able to win a playoff game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, and not only go to the playoffs, win a playoff game against the Steelers, it felt like at that moment we were all like, well, football gods just said, hey, this guy's going to be in Cleveland forever. This is the Browns guy. This is his moment. And then just a couple years later, you're the Panthers, and then you're the Rams, and now you're the Bucks. Did you feel a moment in time, you don't have to say exactly when it was, where you knew maybe this wasn't going to be my forever home? And what was it from the outside looking in? We're very confused by it all. Just want to let you know that. I think I'm still confused too. Okay, okay. Makes sense. No, I think towards the end there, you know, I played 2021 with a pretty much torn apart shoulder. And I was excited to be, you know, get the surgery, get healthy, and get another shot to try and get back to that 2020 form. But that wasn't their plan, and I'm a firm believer everything happens for a reason. Now, the roller coaster I went on after that was a little bit nuts for me. It gave me a good perspective, you know, being in Carolina, trying to be a good mentor to a couple guys and just a different perspective on it. Take a step back, be a good leader. And then also at the same time, then going to L.A., it was like, all right, looking at each other, I've got a five-game season here, let's make the most of it and pad the resume. Yeah, well, let's pad the resume quickly. Because the only thing we – we just lost corn dog paper. Oh, no. Corn dog paper going around Texas State Fair. I think there's going to be a lot of that. But we are sorry that we contributed to that. Baker, let's talk about Sean McVay as soon as you get there. Because Thursday night was like a quick turnaround, and you were out there just dealing, dealing. It was awesome. I'm sure you felt very good in that moment when it was happening. Sean McVay talked about how smart you were. Then Jason Light was just on a podcast the other day with Pete Schrager. Yep. And he said he's a very, very – very, very smart guy. Now, we've seen the videos of you at college. I've had a couple of those as well. People are going to judge that. That's going to happen. But why do you think that was never talked about for you? And when you hear that, does that, like, legitimize anything that you have felt about your football game for a while? To me, it's like I love having a big personality outside of the football game. Most of my meetings are locked in. Like anybody that's ever worked with me, been in the meeting room, they know how serious I take it. But the best part about football is the relationships, is the camaraderie, messing with guys, having fun while doing it. So I just think that was what everybody wanted to attach my personality to. But that's all right because they don't get to work with me either. Well, that personality is also leading to you, I guess, becoming a fan favorite in the locker room already. Jason Light talked about how you hang out with everybody on the team. Have you always been that type of leader? Did you have to go through some shit at Cleveland to become this guy? No, I've been doing that for a while. I was doing that in college. And that's just – you get to know your teammates. You fight for each other. As you guys know, it takes so much more than just one guy doing their job. So the more you can do, the more you can show support for your guys outside of the facility, the better. So it's just – it's the greatest team sport for a reason. You're just a football dude, huh? I'm a football guy. Yeah, all day. AJ has a question for you. I see you got a little tat on your wrist that says believe in yourself. Yep. When did you get that? And did you ever not believe in yourself? Because we talk about it a lot. We had Troy Aikman on here who said, Baker's playing best when he has all of his moxie and he's having fun and you're competitive in that fire that we like to watch. I got this in 2019. So, right after rookie year, and just going through some stuff there in Cleveland. And there was always a lot of pressure. But, you know, trying to navigate it myself. And I think I learned a lot of valuable lessons. But there were definitely doubts. There were time periods where I was second guessing. It was like, all right, this is a lot harder than I thought. This isn't college anymore. So, just a good reminder for me to see it. And then it has the BU in bold a little bit. It's just a little subtle thing. So, just a little, yeah, character thing for me. Hey, those types of moments, though, make you who you are. Do you feel like to get to this point you had to have all that stuff or is there a couple of situations you go, you know, I could do without those? There was a lot of those I could do without. Yeah, yeah. Ryan, but the person you are right now seems to be the best quarterback you've ever been in Tampa in this situation. I feel the same way. I think, you know, all the mistakes and things that I've gone through, a lot of them self-inflicted. But there are opportunities to learn and grow from it. And so, just making the most of this opportunity with the guys down in Tampa. And I'm loving it. It's not fake. It's hot as hell down here. You just accept that you're going to sweat when you walk outside. You're from Texas. You're used to this shit. But it's so humid, though. It's a different type of heat. It is. Nick, as they say. Tony has a question for you. Yeah, Baker, you didn't say it because you're a professional, but I'll say it. That place stinks. Just so we get that. What place? Cleveland. Ah, Tony. Come on. Cleveland. But how nice is it when you go to Tampa and you automatically – and then you just have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the outside. Like, was that like – when you got there, you're like, holy shit, these two are awesome? Yeah, I mean, that was a big deciding factor for me. Those guys are studs, man. Two of the best to ever do it. Just seeing them in person, they're so much fun to watch. The work ethic, I mean, the talent speaks for itself. But seeing how meticulous they are about their craft, it's fun to watch. Jason Light said that you were floating with them. Did you see that? Yeah, I did. He said that it felt like you also wanted to be a buccaneer throughout the entire process. Is that true? And are Mike Evans and Godwin a big part of the reason why? Yeah. And how many other places were you thinking? Ultimately, it was a pretty easy decision. I mean, it came down to them and just a couple others. Oh, a couple others. Oh, you're about to say it. I'm going to let that one slip. You're real close. It came down to no one. I mean, they didn't have the best year last year, but they were so banged up, so many injuries. And I just knew they had a great young core, but also the veteran leadership that was still going to be there, the key pieces that you need to win. And so it was an easy decision for me. Bowles and Dog, Ty has a question for you. Yeah, Baker, you talked about the young core and all the playmakers on the outside. But going into this year, the narrative was, hey, this is the Saints division, and if it's not the Saints division, you know, it's the Panthers just drafted the number one. Like, no one was talking about you guys, which is kind of crazy, because like you mentioned, I mean, you lose Tom Brady, so you understand some of that. But was there a point during either camp or like early on where you're like, that's bullshit. Like, we have a team that can go win this division this year. Yeah, I mean, early on during OTAs and stuff, when we were competing with each other, I started to realize the talent that we really had. And then mandatory minicamp came around, and it was my first time seeing Levante David play in person, how he's shooting the gaps. I was like, shit. We're going to be pretty damn good. So it happened pretty quickly. Hey, I'm going to read some stats about you to you. Here we go. This should be fun. Oh, God. I don't know. There's been a lot of terrible shit said about you by people in microphones. So let me read some good ones. Is that good? I appreciate it. No problem. Did you see the Rex Ryan and me interaction? I did. Okay. I appreciate you. Hey, no problem at all. At what point did you have to stop listening to all that noise? A couple years ago. It was probably tough, though, man. I assume as a human, which you are. You seem to be an actual human. It's human nature. And from somebody that wants to make sure everybody in the locker room, we're all on the same page, we're headed towards the same thing, to see the outside narrative start to bleed into the building and affect the relationships that I was having personally, that was the worst part. So I had to just stay away from it. I assume that bummed you out, though. Yeah. That's not fun. No, it's not. When you're having a – I guess people are second-guessing your character, who you are as a person inside the locker room, that's never fun. Tough. The way you've responded here, and it didn't lose your confidence. Hey, I like the cut of your jib. Big. I like the cut of your jib. Okay, here's some stats on Baker Mayfield this year. Leads the NFL in third-down passer rating, 140.7. Money down. What is it about the – honestly, third down, you're always money. What is that, especially this year? What are you doing different? You know what? It's obviously you want to get the first down, but there's been a lot of the plays on third down so far that just get it in our guys' hands, let them make a play. So it's just taking care of the ball and put us in a good position because knowing we have the defense we do, as long as we take care of the ball, we're going to be pretty dang good. Did you know this offense coming in? How long was that period? So it's really similar to the L.A. one. So I had my first little look at it in those five games. But, yeah, Dave Canales is doing an incredible job with the install and getting everybody on the same page. What is it, lingo, term, plays? What's the problem? Do you use flash cards? How do you operate? The guys that have seen me work, I'm kind of a nut job. I highlight everything. Different colors mean different things. I take notes. I have my iPad that I take notes on, but I like to write it down and reread it. Yeah, I think when you write it, you remember it. For game day, I've got to do – because, I mean, I've pissed off enough schools at this point. But a lot of these schools, you know what I mean, you don't – I've had to learn so much about so many people and so many names from so many different places, schools that I didn't even know existed. And then I've got to learn about the players on their team. And I would like to show respect to college football, though, because that's what game day is. So I had to figure – this is the most amount of work I've ever done in my life, school included. So what I've learned is writing, though. And then I remember myself writing it. But that's a long time. That takes a lot of shit. You're a film junkie? Is that what you are? Yeah, I love film. I mean, there's a certain amount where I think guys are just – Yeah, but nobody says you're invested and smart. No, no. That guy's bonker crazy. You know what I mean? You still have a good time or no? Oh, yeah. I'm having so much fun now. I appreciate that. Here's another one. Leads all qualified passers. So we don't know what qualifications are. But qualified passers in passer rating under pressure, 116.0. You're not 6'4". So, allegedly, pressure should be a problem for you, right? Isn't that sort of a thing? Why do you think under pressure you know? Because you know what they're doing? A little bit of that and then I keep crediting our defense. But practicing against them in training camp, Todd's bringing a ton of different blitz looks. And so it was a bunch of reaction time. And it was honestly training for me, not just learning the offense, but where were my answers throughout that. So it was kind of going right into fire during training camp. These guys say they love you out there. You feel that? Oklahoma still? I love them. You live in Oklahoma? You go back to Oklahoma? I actually live in Austin. Oh, jeez. I mean, you've got to walk around town and just throw these down every once in a while. Gets the people going. Yeah, it does. They actually tried to make a rule against it, didn't they, at some point? Yeah, they did. Personal foul. That's so soft. Buddy, soft? You have no idea. You have no idea how soft. You have no idea how soft college football can be. You mean you can't grab your crotch to an opposing sideline anymore? That was awesome. That was nuts, man. Let's talk about that. You just black out out there? Do you have these things prepared? What happens? That's definitely one of those blackout moments. Yeah, just kind of in the zone. You don't regret it, do you? No. Playing the flag in the turf. I'm about to say, I'm with the flag. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Hey, I've said multiple times, if you come into somebody's house and you beat them, you can do whatever you want. So I understand. I get it. Appreciate it. You guys got prepared? No. I went down to where our band was, and somebody was like, hey, take the flag. So I started waving it around. And so I was going to run around the whole field. I got to about that 200-meter mark. Was not prepared. Made it straight towards the middle of the field. 400 meters a long way. I don't know how people do that. Well, A squared plus B squared equals C squared. If you cut that thing right down the center. I need that hypotenuse angle, man. Exactly. Very, very smart, Jason Light said. Ty has a question for you, Big. Oh, I'm sorry. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Baker, you mentioned Carolina and how it was kind of like a mentor process, and you were helping other younger guys out. But also, you and Sam Darnold's same draft class kind of went through very similar things. Were there conversations between you two like, boy, that did not go how we thought it was going to go? Or was it more so just like, hey, there's plenty of time in both of our careers to kind of turn this around? Yeah, there was definitely that anchorman moment. Well, that escalated quickly. No, and the best part was is we had had very similar stories, like you mentioned, having a bunch of different coaches, having to go through different systems. And I loved getting to work with Sam, an incredible guy, incredibly smart, too, and so talented. So the challenges that we would have in practice, like just pushing each other, it was a great thing for both of us. Hey, you and Odell friends? We're good now. Okay. How was that? I didn't even know if I wanted to ask that just because I didn't want to put you in an awkward position We had a bye week. Yeah. Got game day tomorrow. Yeah, I'm good. We got great things going on. You're at your best ever. So that was a little hesitancy as I was thinking. No, we're good now. And that's part of me growing as a person. I think normally I would hold a lot of grudges. But no, we're good. We squashed that. That's awesome to hear. Yeah. Still chit-chat. Him going to Baltimore, big news. Yeah. Him going to Tampa, big news. Still continuing to do it. Happy you two are getting along. Yeah. Me, too. Yeah. Anything you do off the field? What do you do? Golf? Yeah. I hate to go too hard. Yeah. I'm a lefty, so I get up there. Oh, hell yeah. There you go. Turn too quick. It's just bad. Were you a baseball player growing up? I was. Supposed to be a baseball player, like professional? Yes and no. I didn't. I love football so much. It feels like all you Texas dudes, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Those two. Yeah. You're going to be pros, though, it feels like. Yeah. And I stopped playing club baseball going into high school just because Texas high school football was so serious. So it was like we had to do seven on seven in the summer, had to do all this if you really wanted to play. So I chose, I mean, I played baseball through high school, but I just didn't do it like the normal guys do. You're, that high school football down here, real deal, huh? Oh, yeah. We've only seen Varsity Blues. Yeah, the Friday Night Lights. The Friday Night Lights. So we don't really know, but it's real shit down here. I mean, it's huge. I mean, we would play, so I went to Lake Travis, we would play Westlake before we were in the same district. We'd play them at UT Stadium and we had 45,000 people there for an opening game of high school football. Damn. Hey, that helps you though, doesn't it? Oh, yeah. That's a big moment, obviously. You've been doing this since you're, what, 15, 16 years old? That's real. It's, yeah, it gets you prepared because there's nothing like that. And then we were, we were good enough. I mean, we had five state championships in a row and every year you're going to Cowboy Stadium to play and they fill that stadium up. And so it's, it's incredible. It really does prepare you. Do you all, that fire, that pigskin board, as children, keep in touch with each other? Do you have one big group text? Oh, yeah. Because there's a lot recently, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, there's, they're very happy I'm on this show right now. I'll just say that. Oh, yeah. That's high school football. The boys back home. Shout out to everybody. Hey, what is, what does tonight look like? What are we doing? What does the rest of the weekend, aside from work, look like? You know what? I had a couple little things. I handed out some chicken at Raising Cane's yesterday. Nice. Okay. So are you with them? I had a one-off deal with them yesterday. So does everybody? We have a question. Yeah. We've kind of watched it. It feels like they have, it seems like they have a deal with literally every human on earth. It's good chicken. I've heard this. It's an amazing thing. If you had a deal with Raising Cane, good deal. Yeah. I appreciate it. Yeah. And then this morning, I think I caught more people off guard. I was hanging, handing out gas gift cards at a quick trip, just a random gas station. I'm just a man of the people. This guy's working at the gas station this morning. Then he's joining us. Then he's on game day tomorrow. He's the guest picker. Can't wait to see what your record is there. Feels like it's going to be great because this is your great year. You're currently sitting at your career best marks in overall passer rating at 101.5, which we don't know what that one goes to, but you're over 100 now. Over 100. Triple digits. And your completion percentage right now, 69.6%. Always been accurate. That's always been a thing? Yeah. It's something I take pride in. Yeah. Just being a good decision maker too and just giving guys a chance. In high school though, you used to be able to put it in a keyhole? Yeah. I couldn't. I'll tell you what though. You asked about baseball. I couldn't throw a strike though. I couldn't pitch, but I can put a football anywhere you want. Well, that's good. It ended up working out. There's a lot of those baseball guys that sit on buses for seven years, traveling around for years and years. Now you're in Tampa Bay as the guy playing your best football. Hey, Big, have an incredible weekend, buddy, and we hope that your Oklahoma team does well for you. We hope that happens for you. Yeah. That's right. I can't wait to see who you pick tomorrow. Hey, what do you think about your team? What do you think about Oklahoma? I'm excited. You know, last year obviously wasn't a good year for them. They lost so many guys in transfer portal, but Venables is a dog. I mean, he's got that defense playing with their hair on fire and that's the best way he knows how to do it. I don't think our offense can score on anybody. So I mean, I'm looking forward to the matchup of our offensive group against their defense because I don't think either has seen the competition that they're about to see tomorrow. Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah. With the defense you just mentioned, does Lincoln Riley just hate everybody who plays defense and he only goes and recruits offense or how does that work? Because USC obviously they can score 50, but they can also let up 50 pretty easily as well. Yeah. I guess the main point is he tries to score more points than everybody, but he doesn't make it easy on himself. No. Hey, you mentioned that transfer portal, you transferred obviously had great success before it was this big deal. Yeah. What do you think about the current state of college football and how it feels like there's parody right now more than ever. Yeah. I don't love it to be honest with you. Don't love it. Okay. Old school. I think, but I think it's fair though. I mean, coaches can get up and move whenever they want. So I think it just, I think it's a good opportunity for guys that, you know, say they missed on a recruit. All you have to do now is just treat them poorly and they'll transfer. So it's a good opportunity for kids to get out there and have a, you know, a better place. Oh, I didn't even think about just utilizing the transfer portal as an open up of a scholarship to, Hey, yeah. 6am workout for who? You. That's you. All right. Extra cardio for who? You. All right. Let's go. Right. You want to, that transfer portal is available. All right. Baker. Enjoy the hell out of your weekend. Thank you for stopping by. Congrats on Raising Cane and the gas station and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And this is a bracelet right here. I appreciate that. Sweet. How long have you been a bracelet wearer? A bunch of diamonds in it. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. That's about five years. Pretty cool. Really? Really. Necklace guy? I got a necklace on. Yeah. Me too. Whoa. Jeez Louise. He's a professional quarterback. Big bills. Ladies and gentlemen, Oklahoma legend, Heisman Wiener, Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback. I missed the handshake earlier. I missed it earlier. Jeez AJ. Barbarian. What a story. Hey, good story. Unreal. Great story. Good story. Especially today. Today's NFL. People are all over the place. I checked. He wasn't even rocked up either. What's that? Huh? Who's that? Baker. He wasn't even going sixth midnight. Yeah. Not a lot of motion on the show though, Tony. What's that? He was going back and forth. Yeah. He was. Baker. I enjoyed, as soon as he stepped on the stage, horns down to these people. Yeah. That was sweet. As soon as he could make eye contact with one person wearing a Texas anything, the horns immediately went down. Yep. And then he knew he was going to be in it. But then we started talking about real stuff in there. Him and Odell good again. Huh? That's good to hear. And he even said, hey, that's part of him maturing, not holding grudges. That's a big deal. It really is. It's a big deal for him. And I didn't know that until this conversation. I might not have been keeping up. But I'm happy for Odell, too, that they both can move on. Because I assume Odell felt a certain way. And maybe he was thinking about it. I don't know. But any time people can squash a little something and remove some negativity, I enjoy that. It feels like Baker's life is flying. Water payment senior. OK. OBS. Well, OBS. It may be a different story. He's a video editor. That guy was able to put some things together that really painted a picture of Baker Mayfield that I think a lot of people were like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell's going on? And then Odell leaves. And then Baker's out of the building. And then Stefanski's at the NFL meeting. He's, oh, dapping up Odell Beckham Jr. It's like, well, Stefanski and Odell must be friends. And so what the hell's going on? And now we just learned. Squashed beef. Baker's living best life. Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the guy that everybody was hoping for when he was drafted to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL draft. Yeah. And OBS, hey, look, I understand that your son and you did what you had to do for your boy. But here we are a few years later. Use those editing skills, brother. Go make a Baker Mayfield highlight of him in Tampa, slinging the pill. And then, you know, bygones can be bygone.