Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A lot has happened in Baker Mayfield’s life – personally and professionally – in the last 12 months.
First, he seized a new role as the face and leader of the Browns which came in September 2018 after he couldn’t even get a snap with the starters last July and August.
A new head coach with Freddie Kitchens getting the big promotion from interim offensive coordinator to the top job in January 2019.
A few new teammates, most notably a superstar receiver in Odell Beckham Jr.
“It makes my job easy, that is for sure,” Mayfield said. “Including the other weapons we have right now, the competition level is great for us. It is making those other guys show up, compete and get better, forcing each other to get better. They make my job easy.”
Mayfield got married earlier this month and now he’s embracing new expectations to win and win big.
Change can be difficult, but for Mayfield it’s been anything but.
“I am definitely more excited and more comfortable now than I was last year – [I had] a lot more anxiety not knowing what was coming,” Mayfield said. “I still don’t know how the season is going to go, but I know how I am going to work and how I am going to handle it.
“It is just being comfortable and knowing I have a place that I can call home and know that.”
On Wednesday Browns general manager John Dorsey, who made the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma the No. pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, said that Mayfield was more mature than the average 24-year old.
It’s hard to argue. Mayfield playfully responded to Dorsey’s praise when asked about it Thursday.
“I will take that because he is not as mature as his age,” Mayfield said with a smile.
That’s Mayfield.
Witty, charismatic and comfortable enough to have a little fun. But don’t mistake that for not taking what he does on the field seriously.
Mayfield explained how he learned to balance fun with responsibility.
“I think I had to grow up fast, just being in the spotlight, having to play early in college and then also just having to deal with media early on,” Mayfield said. “I think you learn how you need to conduct yourself — not that I have been perfect by any means, I am definitely not saying that — having to deal with it early on.”
Mayfield is not shy or afraid to speak his mind.
Prior to being drafted, Mayfield declared if there was anyone who could save the floundering Browns from themselves it was him.
Once he finally got his chance to take the field, Mayfield woke the Browns from their slumber to end a 19-game winless streak in a 21-18 win over the New York Jets in front of a national TV audience on Thursday night Football.
He went 6-7 as a starter his rookie year, including winning five of his last seven games, while setting an NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie QB by throwing 27 of them. The Browns scored 27 touchdowns the entire 2017 season.
Believe it or not, 2018 was more of a whirlwind for Mayfield than this year has been.
“Everything is not moving as fast,” Mayfield said.
“Camp moves really fast for you [the first year], especially at the quarterback position. There are a lot of things flying.”
What was novel a year ago for fans – winning more games in the second half of the season than the franchise did the previous three seasons combined – Mayfield aims to make a habit in 2019 and beyond.
“We need to set the standard,” Mayfield said. “This is a tradition-rich franchise that needs to have that standard every year. It is just getting back to that base line, setting that foundation for everybody else and just for them to realize this is what they should expect every year. That is how you build a great culture and a great winning culture. They do deserve that, and that is how it needs to be.”
The addition of Beckham combined with coming off the 7-8-1 season has raised expectations, changed attitudes and boosted confidence inside and outside of the building and Mayfield feels it.
“Absolutely, I think just the extra pieces we added, but also the guys who we had last year, we built a little bit in the second half of the year and just knowing what we are capable of,” Mayfield said. “We added more talent. We added some great coaches. Everybody can kind of feel that within the building. It is a good atmosphere.”
One thing that remains the same for Mayfield as he prepares for his second NFL Season – the RV.
As he and the rest of his teammates reported for camp Wednesday morning, an RV for the quarterbacks was parked in the players lot next to the Casey Coleman Fieldhouse. Last year veteran Drew Stanton made Mayfield pay for one as part of his rookie initiation, so they had a place of solitude to rest during camp, and it’s a tradition Mayfield plans to keep going forward.
“It is one of those rookie duties that I will look back on and be very thankful for,” Mayfield said. “I don’t think I will ever go another training camp without an RV. It is great.”
Even better, it didn’t cost Mayfield this year like it did a year ago.
“Thank God I didn’t have to pay this year,” Mayfield said. “I had to pay a lot last year and they got free marketing. Not this year. That is called growing up, maturing and learning how to work it.”
That's called a veteran move.
