Baker Mayfield has not had a smooth journey to the NFL. He was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up having to cheer Oklahoma rather than the local Longhorns a decision that made him an underdog.
He showed ability as a quarterback but failed to secure the big college bids that he desired at Lake Travis High School. Baker Mayfield continued to pursue the dream with the support of his father who used to play at Houston. He is the Tampa bay Buccaneers quarterback today and he is confirmation that making your own way can also make you to the top.
The trap of a walk-on to Heisman winner: How Baker Mayfield did it.
Meanwhile, Mayfield established a good Division I prospect at Lake Travis, which did not attract the attention of the finest football schools. The Austin powerhouse is known to make big names such as Garrett Wilson and Cameron Dicker but the journey of Mayfield was not the same. Rather than give in, he moved on at Texas Tech, and he just decided to make it in the Big 12. Following his freshman year at the University of Oklahoma, he transferred to Oklahoma however, NCAA regulations compelled him to sit down in 2014.
That hesitation did not retard him. Baker Mayfield started his career at Oklahoma. He was the winner of the Heisman Trophy in 2017, with a total of 4384 yards and 43 touchdowns in addition to an amazing 70 + accuracy rate during his last years. He was not so big but proved that he possessed the expertise and leadership to succeed. Through his impressive performance, he was left with the first-overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Out of hardships to hard-earned prosperity in Tampa Bay.
The career of Baker Mayfield in NFL has been up and down. He was first overall drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2018 and showed promising performances but later lost the starting position when the club decided on Deshaun Watson. There were brief stints in the Panthers and Rams and his future was in doubt to many.
In Tampa bay, however, all was different. With the giant shoes that Tom Brady had left behind, Mayfield immediately silenced his critics with two successive division championships of the Buccaneers. His Texas hard-boiled and perseverance came through. ESPN uses his college statistics 119 total touchdowns and a completion percentage that was more than 70 in his last season as evidence of the talent that he entered the NFL with.
At this point, whenever he has to play against players of his home state such as the Texans or Cowboys, he is adding additional significance to the games. To Mayfield, it is not only about football it is about grit and stickiness and showing that nothing is going to bring him down.
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