Baker Mayfield made a name for himself in the football world with his brash personality in the media and sometimes over the top antics that spawn from the uber-competitive way he plays the game of football.
So when the Cleveland Browns quarterback came in and said he’s ready to “move in silence” this season, it caught some people off guard, including former Giants running back turned media personality Tiki Barber.
“I have a different approach this year. I think everybody who has been interviewed on our team has hit the nail on the head over and over about this is time to work,” Mayfield said during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “It is time to do our thing, instead of talking about it. This is the first media thing I have done, just because there is no need to be talking about it. It is just time to go do it and right now, it is moving in silence, which is fine with me.”
Tiki Barber: Baker Mayfield Needs to Maintain Moxie
GettyBaker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns.
Barber believes it’s Mayfield’s chip-on-the-shoulder approach to the game that made him special to begin with and he would be doing himself a disservice to leave that persona behind.
“Baker Mayfield made himself by having the chip on his shoulder,” Barber said on Tiki and Tierney. “He made himself by creating adversity with an opponent. He made his way from undersized, unappreciated, transferred to a new school to No. 1 overall pick by being edgy. By having a moxie and by having an attitude and being pissed off at the world for no reason at all. And now he’s going to calm himself down and do it the old school way?”
I’m not sure that’s going to work for Baker”
@TikiBarber worries that Mayfield is trying to fit a mold that isn’t right for himFull segment here t.co/SwK9j0bR9d
Baker Mayfield Entering Very Important Season
After garnering some MVP hype in the preseason following a record-setting rookie year, Mayfield finished his sophomore season in the NFL with 3,827 yards, 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, ranking next-to-last in both passer rating (78.8) and completion percentage (59.4%). It wasn’t what people expected when the Browns added Odell Beckham Jr. to the offense via a blockbuster trade.
To get back on track, Barber doubled-down that the only way for Mayfield to be successful is to be himself.
“Baker Mayfield — I think you need to be Baker Mayfield to be great. It’s what made you great when you were in high school, it’s what made you great when you were in college. Hell, it made you great when you were a rookie in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. I’m not sure all of a sudden flipping a switch and going a different way is going to be good for you.”
Mayfield has to do everything in his power to have a successful third season, with his future in Cleveland possibly on the line.
“There’s no doubt Year 3 is always a big year in these contracts,” Mayfield said. “Timing-wise, everybody knows that. I’m not going to put any added pressure on myself. There’s no need for that, because if I win, good things will happen.
“That’s why quarterback is one of the positions that’s the hardest in sports—if I play better, our team is going to do better. I put that pressure on myself, so it doesn’t matter what year it is. I have to play better each year.”
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