While fans of the NFL await word on whether Baker Mayfield will be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback moving forward, things got a bit … interesting. After Mayfield replaced Tyrod Taylor on Thursday Night Football against the New York Jets, he sparked an impressive comeback from a 14-0 deficit.
Taylor was diagnosed with a concussion during halftime of the game which led to Mayfield starting the second half and helping the Browns outscore the Jets 18-3 in the second half. The rookie quarterback’s play was one of a few key reasons Cleveland snapped their 19-game losing streak in the process and fans have already fallen in love with their new quarterback.
But a bit after the game, an interesting theory emerged from Al Hughes Dukes of The Boomer & Gio Show, throwing out the idea that Taylor’s injury was planned.
Conspiracy Theory: That was a planned Tyrod Taylor injury. He was acting injured after every hit. Different body part every time. Baker Mayfield had his helmet on ready to go mid 2nd quarter. It was very WWE. Fake injury to increase the drama
It seems outlandish, but it seems people are actually on board.
Twitter Actually Agrees With It
Multiple fans of both the NFL and the Browns responded to the theory above, and many actually agreed with it. Here’s a look at a few of the comments which were sent his way following the original tweet.
@Alsboringtweets Shoulder first, then back and ultimately a concussion? I agree and it was obvious but I thought it was more him planning his own escape from the game than a team thing.
@Alsboringtweets I noticed that too, Al. Completely agree.
And this was just the start, as the responses were probably 80/20 favoring the side agreeing with the theory being true.
Digging Into the Theory
I can’t even begin to speculate whether this could really even be possible, but I also can’t deny that it seemed like Taylor was down often in the first half. Obviously, a big part of that likely had to do with the Jets getting a tremendous amount of pressure on the quarterback.
One thing I will say is that this is absolutely incredible. I’m impressed someone actually took to social media to make this argument, but it’s also hard to envision a player faking a concussion. Prior to the head injury, Taylor was taking hits and holding various parts of his body on multiple plays.
This video below from Damon Kecman of Climb The Pocket sums it up well.
We’ll surely never know the truth behind this, but with all things considered, it seems fans are buying into the potential of this being true.
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Wild Browns Baker Mayfield-Tyrod Taylor Conspiracy Theory Emerges