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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781629377469 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 09/03/2019 |
| Edition description: | None |
| Pages: | 128 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.40(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.40(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Defying the Odds from an Early Age
On the surface, Baker Mayfield grew up in the right place at the right time to become an NFL quarterback. He had football in his genes — a family that rooted him on at every single one of his Little League and Pop Warner games, a community that loved football as much as any in the United States, and a high school that was just beginning its unmatched stretch of cultivating Division I quarterbacks.
Still, Mayfield had to defy the odds. That's the only way he's known, and he's embraced it at every stop on his way to the instant NFL stardom he experienced as a rookie with the Cleveland Browns.
The son of James Mayfield — who was a quarterback and punter at the University of Houston — and Gina Mayfield, and the younger brother of Matt Mayfield — a walk-on for the Texas A&M baseball team — Baker Mayfield was born April 14, 1995, in Austin, Texas. It didn't take long for him to pick up the sports his dad and brother loved so dearly. When he was just three years old, Mayfield told his mother from that point on, he'd only watch ESPN.
Baseball, football, video games: those were Mayfield's passions, and his personal power rankings of the three depended on the day or year.
Don't be fooled by the first pitch Mayfield airmailed at a Cleveland Indians game shortly after the Browns drafted him in 2018. It all started with baseball, his first love. As early as the age of 10, Mayfield, a lefty at the plate, was his neighborhood's chief organizer of pick-up baseball tournaments, most of which would be headquartered in his own backyard. He could play pretty much every position in the infield, starring as a shortstop and third baseman in his Little League years before settling in as a first baseman and designated hitter at Lake Travis High School. He earned Class 4A all-state honors after a junior season in which he batted .364, drove in 29 runs, and nearly led his team to a state title. Had it not been for football, Mayfield perhaps could have made a career out of baseball.
"Absolutely, he could have played in college. He could have played pro ball, as well," Daniel Castano, a former high school teammate of Mayfield's who went on to play baseball professionally, told Bleacher Report in a July 2018 article. That sentiment was echoed in the same article by Connor Mayes, another former teammate of Mayfield's who went on to play in the Royals' minor league system.
When Mayfield wasn't playing baseball or football under the scorching Texas sun, he was in front of a TV next to his brother playing any variety of video games. When Nintendo 64 was the hottest system, it was non-stop battles of Hydro Thunder, Goldeneye and the latest version of NCAA Football, his brother told SoonerSports.com. By college, it was Halo 3, a popular Xbox game for which Mayfield has found time no matter how busy his schedule. He facetiously told teammates in high school he'd need to scale back on his football schedule to make time for the video game. At Oklahoma, his Halo 3 prowess became such a widely known skill that his own athletic department produced a longform feature on the subject. And just a few weeks after his rookie season, Mayfield sent out a tweet to his 515,000-plus followers to let them know "I'm back on Halo 3 like I never left."
The football field, though, was where Mayfield had the most staying power.
It all started in the fifth grade. Mayfield wanted to be a wide receiver. But his arm, as he'd already shown for years on the baseball field, was too good to overlook at the game's most important position. Mayfield just took a little longer than most his age to grow into the role — literally. Mayfield's been undersized — compared to the average quarterback — throughout his career, but he was at an even bigger disadvantage as the players around him hit their growth spurts before he did. In a 2015 Tulsa World article, James Mayfield said Baker simply didn't play much as an eighth or ninth grader. By his own recollections, Mayfield was 5'2" and just 130 pounds when he finished middle school.
"Baker was still Baker, and he was throwing the ball better than the rest of them," James Mayfield told the Tulsa World. "He was just a little guy."
Mayfield, thanks to a long-awaited growth spurt, was creeping up on 6'0" by the time he joined the pipeline of quarterbacks at Lake Travis High, which was in the early stages of an extended run of sending its signal-callers to Division I schools (eight since 2006). Before there was Mayfield, there was Todd Reesing, a 2005 Lake Travis grad who went on to win an Orange Bowl at Kansas. There was Garrett Gilbert, one of the highest-ranked recruits in the nation in 2009 who led Lake Travis to two state titles and went on to play at Texas and SMU. Michael Brewer led the school to two more state titles, then graduated in 2011 and enrolled at Texas Tech.
And then there was Collin Lagasse, a senior who beat out Mayfield, a junior at the time, for the starting job in 2011.
"I was disappointed. I'd worked so hard to get there but came up short. I felt like I'd failed at that time," Mayfield said in the docuseries All the Way Up: Baker Mayfield, which aired on FOX in July 2018.
"That's when I really looked myself in the mirror and said I'm going to keep working and whatever happens, happens. But when I get the opportunity to play, I'm going to take advantage."
The pecking order lasted just one possession into the 2011 season because Mayfield did just that.
Lagasse — whose athleticism was so impressive he wound up signing a scholarship to play wide receiver at SMU — separated his shoulder while scrambling on the fourth play of the game. That stroke of misfortune allowed Mayfield to take the job and run with it — a situation that would seemingly repeat itself wherever Mayfield went.
Playing before a raucous crowd of 35,000 at Darrell K Royal — Texas Memorial Stadium, Mayfield was unfazed. He threw for nearly 300 yards and ran for close to another 100 in the 35 — 7 victory over rival Westlake High. The rest of the season was more of the same, with stats that looked more like what you'd see in the video games Mayfield loved to play. He threw for 3,788 yards and completed 65 percent of his passes with 45 touchdowns and just five interceptions. More importantly, Lake Travis didn't lose a game on its way to its fifth straight Texas 4A state title.
The wins didn't come as easy the following year, but Mayfield was just as good. He was the District 15-5A MVP after throwing 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions as Lake Travis saw its streak of five consecutive state titles come to an end.
His journey to the NFL, though, had only just begun.
Mayfield, considered a three-star recruit and ranked the No. 42 pro-style quarterback in the 2013 prospect class, had some scholarship offers — they just weren't big enough for Mayfield's liking. He could have gone to Rice, New Mexico, or Florida Atlantic, but Mayfield had bigger dreams.
"I easily could've gone to a place like Florida Atlantic, but my dad pushed me to realize that my dream was to play somewhere big," Mayfield told ESPN.com in August 2016. "He was right."
After an extended flirtation with TCU ended without an offer, Mayfield decided to walk on at Texas Tech, a Big 12 school that had just handed the coaching reins to 33-year-old Kliff Kingsbury. The decision didn't sit well with Mayfield's high school coach, Hank Carter, who admitted in an ESPN.com article he "wasn't real fired up" about Mayfield going to a school where his former Lake Travis High teammate, Brewer, and Davis Webb, a true freshman, were both on scholarship. There'd be an open quarterback competition to kick off a new era of Red Raiders football, and Mayfield was confident he'd win it — even though the other competitors had a full set of spring practices under their belts, among other advantages.
Mayfield made the nearly six-hour drive northeast to Lubbock in early July and went right to work — on the scout team. A back injury essentially removed Brewer from the competition, leaving Kingsbury to decide between his scholarship freshman and the spunky walk-on who had that intangible "it" factor to him.
Mayfield's practice performance and comfort level within Kingsbury's Air Raid system left the coach with no other choice. This was Mayfield's team.
"By the way he came in and competed and really took control of the offense from Day 1, I had a feeling," Kingsbury told USA Today. "He stepped in like he'd been operating it for three years. It was better than anything I could have expected from him."
Kingsbury's decision was a historic one. When Mayfield took the first snap in Texas Tech's season opener against SMU — pitting him against another Lake Travis alum in Gilbert — he became the first true freshman walk-on to start a season opener for a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) school. And Mayfield did what he always seems to do, taking a big moment and making it special. The Red Raiders never trailed as Mayfield threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns — and ran 11 yards for another — en route to a 41 — 23 victory.
Mayfield was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week just one week into his college career, but a knee injury he suffered a few weeks later added an extra layer of difficulty to his freshman season. Playing through pain in the majority of his eight games under center, he finished with 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns. It was enough to make Mayfield the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, but it didn't get him the scholarship he coveted for the next semester.
"It was just different after I got hurt," Mayfield said in All the Way Up: Baker Mayfield.
"I've invested a lot into this and now you're telling me you don't have a scholarship for a guy who won five games after choosing to come here? That was the final straw for me." It was time to go back to a place Mayfield knew almost as well as his hometown.
CHAPTER 2Baker's Bold Decision
The thought first popped into Baker Mayfield's head during one of his lowest moments at Texas Tech.
Saddled with a knee injury, Mayfield stood on the sideline for the third consecutive week as he watched Davis Webb, the scholarship quarterback he'd beaten out for the job, run the show. The Red Raiders were undefeated — thanks mostly to Mayfield's performance in the first five games — but were up for their stiffest test yet at Oklahoma. It was a familiar place for Mayfield, who grew up an Oklahoma fan and spent a number of Saturdays tailgating outside the Palace on the Prairie before watching the Sooners take care of business.
Texas Tech fell to Oklahoma that day 38 — 30, its first of five consecutive losses to close out the 2013 season. By the time Texas Tech started its preparations for the Holiday Bowl, Mayfield was back in Austin plotting his next move.
It's one thing to think something. It's another to do it. Transferring to Oklahoma was possible, sure, but there were certainly easier paths available for Mayfield to resume his college career as a starting quarterback. Mayfield didn't care. It would have been easier to start right away at Florida Atlantic rather than walk on at Texas Tech, too.
Just days before Mayfield arrived on Oklahoma's campus, Trevor Knight looked like the next great Sooners quarterback in an upset victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Knight was a redshirt freshman with his whole career in front of him, and he'd just put up 348 yards and four touchdowns against an Alabama defense loaded with future NFL players. And there were four — yes, four — more quarterbacks behind Knight who would vie for the starting job when practice resumed in the spring.
Mayfield was undeterred. He confirmed his enrollment at Oklahoma to reporters on January 9 and met legendary coach Bob Stoops for the first time at a Sooners team meeting shortly thereafter. Stoops later called it "maybe the strangest thing that's ever happened in my coaching career."
Mayfield walked up to Stoops, introduced himself, and laid out his intentions. Stoops welcomed him with open arms, vowing to give Mayfield "every opportunity" to be the quarterback — just like everyone else in the crowded position group.
The NCAA denied Mayfield a chance at competing for the job in 2014, blocking his waiver request to play immediately despite transferring within the conference. It didn't stop him from leaving a lasting impression on his coaches and teammates. His performance in Oklahoma's 2014 spring game was nothing short of perfect, as he completed all nine of his pass attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns. And though he couldn't play on Saturdays, Mayfield made his mark during the week as the scout team quarterback, emulating the opponent's starter to help prepare Oklahoma's defense. He was an easy choice for Oklahoma's scout team offensive player of the year.
"Everybody saw it," Stoops said in All the Way Up: Baker Mayfield.
"He was a team guy. He hustled, busted his butt no matter what he was doing. Players respect that."
* * *
Before Mayfield's dream came true at Oklahoma, he had to weather a nightmare.
In late April 2015, Mayfield's mother, Gina, and his aunt, Kristi Brooks, were involved in a serious car accident in South Carolina that left three dead, including the driver of their car, Adrienne Davis. A seatbelt helped saved Gina's life, but left her with serious injuries to her abdomen. More than a month passed before she could return to Austin, but she was in a better place by the time Mayfield was back in Norman competing for the starting job.
"She had to kick me out of the house to do it," Mayfield said in his docuseries. "Once I got there, it was straight business."
Knight was the returning starter, but nothing was guaranteed for him after he labored through one of the worst Oklahoma seasons in years. For just the third time since 2005, the Sooners failed to win at least 10 games, finishing 8 — 5. The competition was wide open, and Mayfield took care of business from the moment practices opened in early August. A week out from Oklahoma's season opener against Akron, Stoops made it official.
"I could see a vision in my head that I'd play here eventually," Mayfield said shortly after he was informed of the decision. "It's a dream come true for me."
Mayfield's first official pass as a Sooner went 15 yards to Jarvis Baxter. The rest of his throws in a nearly spotless debut were just as good, and Oklahoma was rolling with their new leader at quarterback, who set a program record for most passing yards in a season opener.
It didn't take long for Mayfield to deliver one of his signature comeback victories. The very next week at Tennessee, Oklahoma trailed 17–3 entering the fourth quarter. Mayfield had two interceptions and not even 100 passing yards, but it mattered little when the game was on the line. He led the Sooners on back-to-back lengthy touchdown drives, capping the second with a touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with 40 seconds to play to send the game to overtime. Mayfield ran for a touchdown in the first overtime and threw an 18-yard touchdown in the second to stun the 100,000-plus Tennessee fans who expected to rattle the first-year signal-caller.
A midseason loss to Texas gave Mayfield and the Sooners a dose of adversity, but they rallied back even stronger to finish the season playing as good of football as anyone in the country. Oklahoma held on for a victory against TCU in a game that saw Mayfield sidelined for the entire second half with a head injury and made it look easy in the season finale at No. 11 Oklahoma State. Mayfield's 180 passing yards, 77 rushing yards, and three touchdowns powered the Sooners to a 58–23 rout and secured them a spot in the College Football Playoff. That's where the season would end, though, as Mayfield threw for 311 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the No. 4 Sooners' 37–17 loss to No. 1 Clemson in the Orange Bowl semifinal.
But Mayfield was just getting started.
"Looking back on the 2015 season, I was a good player, but, wow, did I make a lot of mistakes," Mayfield said in his docuseries. "I was just excited to play ball again. I always played fearless, but kind of played careless with my body.
"The relationships I built with some of those guys …I have best friends on that 2015 team that I'll have for life."
On June 1, 2016, Mayfield was told he'd have just one year of eligibility left when the Big 12 voted down a policy that would have given back the year of eligibility Mayfield lost when he transferred from Texas Tech. But 24 hours later, Big 12 faculty representatives, in a 7–3 vote, passed an amended policy that returned his eligibility, officially making him a junior entering the 2016 season.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Baker Mayfield"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Andrew Gribble.
Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Defying the Odds from an Early Age,
Baker's Bold Decision,
The Path to No. 1,
Learning the Ropes,
A Debut to Remember,
Hitting His Stride While Weathering the Storm,
Cooking with Kitchens,
"He Walk It Like He Talk It",
Right QB, Right Franchise,
More Than a Quarterback,