CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – After the game clock expired at 4:02 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Baker Mayfield raised his arms with the football in one hand and his helmet in the other as he yelled to the heavens.
In mere seconds, he released 18 years of pent-up pain, misery, embarrassment, and humiliation endured by Cleveland’s long-suffering football fans after the Browns punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 24-22 win over the Steelers.
The drought is over. Thirst finally quenched.
“It is a moment I will definitely never forget,” Mayfield said.
At the NFL Combine in 2018, Mayfield declared that he was the one who could turn the woebegone laughingstock of the NFL into a winner.
The Browns called his bluff, taking him with the first pick in the draft, and Sunday afternoon he delivered on that promise, just three seasons into his career.
“I have had a ton of help along the way,” Mayfield said. “There are very few players that are here who have endured the not-so-great times, which is why we mentioned guys like Joel [Bitonio], and Myles did not win a game his rookie year, but it was a turning point."
Three full-time head coaches and two general managers later, Mayfield has helped the Browns climb what once felt like an insurmountable mountain.
“All it takes is you have to weather the storm,” Mayfield said. “You have to be able to take those punches.”
Bitonio, drafted by the Browns in 2014, took a lot of those punches. He toiled through six consecutive losing seasons prior to this year.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski asked the veteran left guard to address the team in the locker room after the game.
“[My message] was just I appreciate everybody in the room and the work that they put in from the top down, just working to change the culture here,” Bitonio said. “There was a culture of losing and a culture of not being able to finish some of the games that we have been in. I just appreciate everybody and hopefully we are setting the stage for a winning culture in Cleveland for a long time.”
Garrett, picked No. 1 overall a year before Mayfield was, didn’t win a single game his rookie year in 2017.
“I have been waiting. It is not over yet,” Garrett said. “Everybody likes to get a ticket to the dance, but if you want to dance with the pretty girl, that means you have to make it to the end. We are trying to make it to the next game one by one, but we know where we are trying to get and we know where we want to go.”
Mayfield threw for 196 yards and a touchdown while completing 17 of 27 passes in the win over the Steelers, but it was his feet that carried Cleveland to Week 18.
Mayfield's 3-yard run on third-and-2 with 1:10 remaining sealed the victory thanks in part to a hellacious block from running back Kareem Hunt.
“I heard the play call when I was on the sideline and I was over with Case Keenum and he told me. I thought he was joking at first because I did not hear it well,” Mayfield said. “We called it, and I said ‘Let’s go do it. Obviously, whatever it takes.’ It was a great call. All of our guys made great blocks, but Kareem right in front of me, I could hear that collision. He smacked that guy in front of me. He gave me enough room to get the first down.”
Mayfield, who is just the third quarterback in NFL history – joining Peyton Manning (1998-2000) and Andrew Luck (2012-14) – to throw for at least 3,500 yards and at least 20 touchdowns in each of their first three seasons, ran 6 times for 44 yards in the win.
“He wanted this one, I can promise you that,” Stefanski said. “That play at the end, just put the ball in his hands and said, ‘Go get this thing.’ It was well blocked, and I think Kareem [Hunt] was at the point of attack there, as well. To go get was pretty cool.”
Bitonio loved the call.
“That was special getting Baker to seal the deal there,” Bitonio said. “He is the quarterback of this team and the leader. To have the ball is in his hand to finish the game, that was impressive.”
Stefanski didn’t get to meet his team in person until training camp, yet he pulled off one of the most improbable turnarounds amidst a pandemic that threatened to derail their season over the final 12 days.
“Kevin has not flinched,” Mayfield said. “He rolls with the punches. He has the ‘whatever happens, happens’ mentality, which is the correct one to have during – well, it is now 2021 – during the 2020 season. It is the correct mentality to have our guys ready for any obstacle or any adversity that comes our way.”
Prior to Mayfield taking over at quarterback in Week 3 of the 2018 season, the Browns had gone 4-50-1 in their previous 55 games.
They’re now 11-5 and playoff bound, and he is 23-22 in 45 starts.
“For our team to win 11 games this year over a lot of ups and downs, to learn new systems on both offense and defense over Zoom meetings, to have a lot of new faces and get to know each other in a very different way and to come out and find a way to get in the playoffs in a division that has three teams in the playoffs, it is pretty damn special,” Mayfield said. “I am proud of this team.
“That is the best part is we have scratched and clawed and found a way to get in when we had to. All we wanted was a chance, and now we have one.”