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Baker Mayfield may be the odd man out in Cleveland, but he hasn't lost his edge. If nothing else, the quarterback has found a new one. While speaking on the YNK podcast via The Spun, the quarterback sent a message to doubters and critics with a few explicit words thrown in for good measure. The clip below starts at roughly 1:20:00. Here's how he started his message:
“I’m not going to force it. I’m going to be myself. Because I feel like I tried to force it when things on the field weren’t going well, like in the past couple of years. I feel like I’m going to go in there and be myself because that’s worked for me in the past. I’m going to go in with the same work ethic and mentality."
He continued, predicting that he is going to stay cool under fire and eventually win over his detractors:
"And if they don’t like me, that’s fine. But when I step on the field and I play as confident as I am and what I think I’m going to do on the field the next time I get a chance to do it, I’ll earn the respect of the guys who didn’t appreciate it from the beginning."
Put simply, the quarterback isn't going to change his game to follow what he thinks people's expectations are. He continued, saying that winning trumps all:
“If I’m worried about getting them to like me, what am I doing? They don’t care if I like them either. They want their quarterback to win. They’re trying to get a paycheck. If their team wins, they get paid. So the guys who don’t really personally like me, that’s fine."
He wrapped it up by saying that the best way to earn respect is to work hard day after day:
"But I have to have their respect. And the way I do that is just working my ass off, being myself. Because you can get sniffed out in a f—ing heartbeat if you’re fake. They’ll sniff that out quick.”
Baker Mayfield's life in recent months
The 2019 season was rough, with Baker Mayfield throwing nearly as many interceptions as touchdowns, but 2021 may have been tougher. Last season, Mayfield threw for 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Throughout the season, he fought through several injuries and dealt with a banged-up roster, especially at running back.
The quarterback skipped the last game of the season to undergo surgery and begin his rehabilitation process early as the team were already out of contention for a place in the playoffs. However, just a few months later, the team traded for Deshaun Watson, leaving the quarterback on an island. At the moment, the quarterback is in purgatory and doesn't know where he will be at the start of 2022.
Fans have speculatively connected the quarterback to Seattle after losing Russell Wilson, but his future is a complete mystery. Where will Mayfield end up?
