Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, After Heisman Statue Reveal, is 'Ready for a Fresh Start'
Baker Mayfield can’t wait.
Mayfield made an appearance Wednesday afternoon on SportsTalk 1400 The Ref’s “The Rush” with Tyler McComas and Teddy Lehman, and said he’s excited about the reveal of his statue in OU’s Heisman Park on Saturday.
Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner and 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, declined to reveal the statue’s pose but did say he saw photos of the statue when it was originally scheduled for the 2020 spring game before the COVID shutdown — but hasn’t seen the finished product.
“Hopefully they made me look good,” Mayfield said with a laugh.
Mayfield said he will speak to the fans at halftime of the Red/White Game.
“That’s probably when the emotions will run high,” Mayfield said.
McComas asked Mayfield what he thought his 10-year-old self would think of having a giant statue on the same grounds he used to play catch before and after games.
“Oh man. That gives me chills, to be honest with you,” Mayfield said. “That’s something I really did dream about, after those games, tailgating with people outside — right outside Heisman Park, to be honest with you, picking up games with kid I didn’t know and trying to envision myself playing there. It really has been a dream come true.
“It’s always been home. It’s always felt like family. The tradition obviously speaks for itself. This is something that so surreal, coming full circle, having that statue go up there next to some really, really big-time legends, people I looked up to, it’s pretty special for me.”
Mayfield said the news of Lincoln Riley taking the USC job back in December felt particularly odd.
“It definitely did,” Mayfield said. “I was on an away trip (with the Browns) and the news broke on a Sunday. I was kinda shocked. Not just kinda. I was shocked. But you know what? I know in the grand scheme of things, everybody feels a certain way about the situation. …
“You know what? We got Venables. That toughness is coming back. We kept (Bill) Bedenbaugh, Cale Gundy. We got a lot of key pieces. It’s different. I think it’s gonna work out for both schools. For me, obviously Lincoln played a huge part of my time there. So I’m extremely grateful for him and our time together. And I told him that. But this weekend is about the people that are there, that were there, and introducing some of these new guys to what it’s all about.”
Mayfield is known to be an emotional person, and he acknowledged it’s possible emotions might get hold of him Saturday.
“I’m kinda just gonna take it one second at a time,” he said. “I know it’s gonna be an emotional moment. Just because it’s the first time coming back and having everybody there. Not everybody that was a part of the story and a part of that season, a special season, is gonna be able to come back. But it’s gonna be a lot of special people, people that matter in my life and continue to matter and have affected it in a positive way, they’re gonna be there at once.
“And that’s somewhere I call home, so it’s gonna be emotional. I’m just gonna let everything kind of fly, as per usual, let the emotions, let all that wear on my sleeve, and see what happens.”
Mayfield said he and his wife Emily are living in Austin, and he’s planning to bring his youth football camp back to Norman on June 28.
“It’s gonna be a really good time,” he said.
He said he had surgery in January (he needed left shoulder repair) and is looking forward to the future — even though the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans and Mayfield has requested a trade.
“I’m feeling extremely healthy, better than I have,” Mayfield said. “And I’m ready for a fresh start. You know what? In my history, my timeline, fresh starts have worked out pretty good for me. So I’m excited.”
