Baker Mayfield says Browns getting so much hype 'people want to see us lose'
There are few NFL teams who have had more written and said about them over the last several months than the Cleveland Browns.
Between the trade for Odell Beckham Jr., naming a relative unknown in Freddie Kitchens as head coach and the promise and personality of Baker Mayfield, the Browns have attracted a lot of attention.
Just as fast as they’ve become a media darling, Mayfield thinks the backlash will come just as quickly.
‘People want to see us lose’
Mayfield sat down with Complex magazine writer Zach Frydenlund for a story that went online Tuesday.
Frydenlund, who says he’s a Browns fan, spent time with Mayfield on his RV, but not the one that was on last summer’s “Hard Knocks” – this is an upgrade.
Cleveland finished last season by going 5-2 over the last half to end up 7-8-1. That, the promise of Mayfield’s play and so many other factors mean Cleveland is in unfamiliar territory.
Mayfield was asked how the team will handle the chatter if they lose a couple of games.
“I’d say the chatter doesn’t matter. The expectations for us within the locker room last year were higher than what we accomplished,” Mayfield said. “Outside the locker room, people threw us in the trash before the season. They didn’t expect much out of us just because, the year before that, [the] Browns were 0-16. So, you know, you can only go up from there. And I think now we need to have the same mentality. It stays within that locker room.
“You’ve got to believe in it and take it one week at a time. Because I wouldn’t say that everybody wants to beat us. I think in the media and everything that comes with the hype around our team right now, people want to see us lose, just because the hype is so real. But we’ve got to go out there and take it one week at a time. We’re trying to win every week.”
Frydenlund notes that the Browns have seemingly gone from laughingstock to playoff favorite, skipping a middle ground.
“It went from having excitement over Bud Light coolers being opened [when the Browns ended their losing streak] to now people waiting to see us lose so they can say, ‘Oh, they got too hyped up,’” Mayfield said. “That’s why you’ve got to have an even-keel mindset when it comes to that stuff.”
‘I’d put myself up there against Tom’
On a lighter note, Mayfield talked about his viral beer-chugging moment. At a Cleveland Indians game last week, Mayfield was shown on the stadium video board ripping into a can of beer then hyping up the crowd.
Other NFL quarterbacks, like Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers, have also shown beer-chugging prowess (well, “prowess” might not apply to Rodgers), and Mayfield is confident he’s right there with them.
“I’d have to set myself up there,” Mayfield said. “It wasn’t like a regular cup.”
When noted he did it his way, Mayfield agree.
“I’d like to say that, which most of my story has been my own way. I’d put myself up there against Tom. Tom versus time, clock is ticking on how to chug a beer the fastest,” he joked.
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