As a callow college lad, Baker Mayfield, future Cleveland quarterback, engaged in some youthful misadventure and found himself crossways with the local constabulary of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Compounding his error in judgment, Mayfield, outnumbered, decided his best course of action would be to attempt to flee on foot. He did not get far.
Three cops slammed him into a wall—damned good tackle, too—and later added insult to the injury of arresting the University of Oklahoma quarterback for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and fleeing. The officers shared a good hoot at Mayfield’s expense (he was not only captured by police but also by a dashboard video camera):
“By the way,” an officer was heard to say, “he’s the quarterback at OU.
“He is . . . Is he really?” another replied.
“That’s what his girlfriend said.”
“He’s not very fast.” Cops sure know how to hurt a guy.
Upon further review, the Pittsburgh Steelers might provide a different opinion of Mayfield’s running ability. In the 24-22 victory that advanced the 11-5 Browns to the NFL playoffs for a rematch at Pittsburgh, Mayfield contributed as much with his legs as with his powerful arm (17-of-27, 63%, 196 yards, O INT, 1 TD, 97.1 rating). The Steelers might even allow that while Baker Mayfield may not possess Lamar Jackson-speed, he is fast enough to get the job done and more than a little determined to do so.
From his low moment of running from Fayetteville police in February 2017—he had been a bystander to another altercation—to Sunday, January 3, 2021, is a country mile.
Mayfield turned himself into the force of will that ended Cleveland’s playoff drought after the Browns’ 17 seasons of mostly big losing, dating to 2002. If Mayfield ever thinks about that bad Fayetteville moment—he must, since he pled guilty to three misdemeanors, apologized, and has not behaved similarly—he will surely appreciate how different are the three most important yards he gained against the Steelers.
The week before, his self-described failures had put the Browns in this mess of a win-or-die situation in which the team had to constantly close its practice facility because of COVID protocols. Six players and three assistant coaches were forced to sit out this critically meaningful game. The worries would have been unnecessary if not for three fumbles Mayfield added to the burden of playing without its top four receivers last week against the New York Jets, a team that had only just recorded its first 2020 victory.
Remembering one’s lowest moments on the field or in the backseat of a police vehicle can make the highs, such as Sunday’s, all the more memorable and meaningful.
“It was a moment,” Mayfield said, “I will definitely never forget,”
Mayfield literally glowed during an on-field television interview after his short run, behind a crushing Kareem Hunt block, allowed the Browns to retain possession of the ball and close out the Steelers. It was one of five Mayfield second-half runs, four for first downs, that finally tilted the see-saw in favor of the Browns. Mayfield gained 44 yards on six carries, more than Hunt who is usually the “two” to Nick Chubb’s “one” in the Browns’ NFL best one-two running punch. Chubb returned to form after a couple of lesser performances against defenses determined to force Mayfield to win with the pass.
Chubb, in fact, set the tone for the Browns on his third carry of the game. He reeled off a 47-yard touchdown that left Pittsburgh safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in his wake and was the first TD run of more than 40 yards against the Steelers by a Brown since Jim Brown. Mr. Brown himself scored from 48 yards on October 19, 1958, long before any of these Browns were born. Chubb crashed through the 1,000-yard season barrier (1,067) for the second year in a row, this time even though he lost four games to injury.
With that fast start, Mayfield’s strong finish, no turnovers, and the Steelers resting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and eight other starters, the outcome nevertheless became dicey. A 10-0 lead deteriorated to 10-9 before, in the third quarter, Mayfield, with a Rashard Higgins block, ripped off a 28-yard run to complement 4-for-4 passing, including a 2-yard closer to tight end Austin Hooper for a 17-9 margin. Mason Rudolph, with whom Mayfield dueled and was 3-0 when Mayfield was at Oklahoma and Rudolph at Oklahoma State, looked as if might break the Browns’ heart by continually piercing the depleted secondary with long second-half passes. But he still couldn’t beat Mayfield.
“The feeling of walking off the field,” Mayfield said, “. . . the energy in the stadium, playing ‘Cleveland Rocks’. I can see an old-school video going on, and I look up and see old-school highlights of players like Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar . . . and for it to be that loud with the [COVID] limited number of fans (11,989), it is a special moment for us.”
It is the moment Mayfield promised the Browns that he would bring to First Energy Stadium if only they would draft him with their second of two No. 1 picks in a row—Myles Garrett in 2017, Mayfield in 2018—and then trust him. They did and he delivered.
But now, there is more to do in the foreign territory that is the playoffs. Coach Kevin Stefanski gave him the ball and his trust to make the big play—a gift rollout-like run designed by offensive line coach Bill Callahan who was absent as the result of COVID protocols. When the Browns arrive in Pittsburgh for their Sunday Night Football showdown, they will find Roethlisberger and a more complete and capable Steelers team awaiting them for a game meaningful to both teams instead of only one.
If that were not challenge enough, the Browns will be without Olivier Vernon, who has been the best defender on the field for the past two games, with Garrett still seemingly not fully recovered from a serious bout with COVID-19. Vernon ruptured his Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter and will undergo surgery. Yet another challenge in a long season of them. Mayfield will serve as example to his resilient team not to run from it.
