Faced with 3rd & 10 with nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter of Monday Night Football, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed a big play.
The Houston Texans sent a blitz; quarterback Baker Mayfield read the pressure and managed to escape the pocket through the hands of safety Jalen Pitre.
Mayfield cut up the field and extended the play, crossing the 29-yard line to secure the first down. Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. clipped Mayfield from behind to bring him down.
Mayfield fell and hit the ground awkwardly, and Buccaneers fans held their breath as their starting quarterback clutched his ankle not getting up. Texans’ cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson stood over Mayfield, removed his mouth guard and began trash talking at the seemingly injured quarterback.
In what seemed like an instant, Mayfield hopped right up and into the face of the defensive back, barking back at him with words of his own. The choice words from Garder-Johnson seemed to erase the memory that he was hurt from his mind.
These are the moments that have won Mayfield the hearts of Tampa Bay fans.
The Buccaneers went on to win the game 20-19, after Mayfield marched the offense 80 yards downfield to before Rachaad White punched in the winning touchdown with six seconds on the clock.
Mayfield has led game winning drives in both of Tampa Bays first two games this year. The win marked the 14th of his career, and his sixth with the Bucs, establishing himself as not only one of the league’s top quarterbacks, but also one of its best leaders.
But it has not been all smooth sailing for Mayfield in his career, as injuries and relocations have tested his resilience.
Coming out of college from the University of Oklahoma, Mayfield was recognized as a fiery competitor, whose unrivaled swagger matched his talent. He won the Heisman Trophy and was taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns.
Not everyone was singing Mayfield’s praises. There were critics who questioned his maturity and attitude. None louder than Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd.
Cowherd was critical of Mayfield throughout the NFL draft process and his early NFL career. Whether it was citing reports from anonymous GM’s to complaining about the way Mayfield wears his hats, it was clear Cowherd did not believe in him.
In his rookie season, Mayfield set the record for most single season touchdown passes by a rookie in NFL history. In year three he led the Browns to an 11-5 record in 2020; the franchise’s best since the team’s return in the 1999 expansion. The Browns went on to defeat the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card game, Mayfield was proving the critics wrong while turning around one of the NFL’s most cursed franchises.
Things began to go wrong for Mayfield from there. In week two of the following season, he tore the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. He played through the injury for the remainder of the season in a harness, but his numbers saw a steep decline, throwing only 17 touchdowns with 13 interceptions while barely eclipsing 3,000 yards.
The Browns heavily pursued Deshaun Watson in the offseason that year, as they no longer believed Mayfield was the long-term answer for the team. This resulted in Mayfield requesting a trade from the team, ending up with the Carolina Panthers.
He started six games for the Panthers, throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions. He was waived by Carolina and scooped up by the Los Angeles Rams.
While Mayfield did show a glimpse of the player he once was, leading a last-minute comeback in his first game with the team, he went 2-3 with and again found himself without a home in the offseason.
The Buccaneers took a chance on Mayfield after Tom Brady retired in 2023. They signed him to a one-year, $4 million deal. He entered camp in a quarterback battle with Kyle Trask. Colin Cowherd believed it was a sign that Baker was done.
“I’m going to tell him at 28-years-old to retire, save your brand, and go to college football and be an analyst,” Cowherd said on his FS1 show, “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”.
Baker has proved him, and all the others that thought he was done, wrong.
Since joining the team that year, Baker Mayfield leads the entire NFL in regular season passing touchdowns with 74. In that same time frame, he has thrown for more yards than the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
He has led the Buccaneers to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles fresh off a Superbowl appearance in the wild card round in his first season with the team.
Mayfield’s road has been anything but straight, but he has turned out to be more than just be the quarterback the Bucs hoped for when they signed him; He has become the heartbeat of the franchise.
Even Cowherd recognizes Mayfield’s success following Monday Night’s win over the Texans.
“Baker Mayfield finally found the perfect fit,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “This is his team, his town, his city, his locker room, his division. It feels perfect.”
For Baker Mayfield, redemption isn’t just a storyline anymore. It’s his legacy.