It seems that Baker Mayfield had a rather bad reputation across the country.
Joe is so fixated on the Bucs that he didn’t give much thought to the Fourth Estate’s portrayal of Mayfield.
You would expect that by word of mouth, Mayfield’s former colleagues or teammates would talk about him with other NFL players, particularly Bucs guys. If they did, legendary Bucs linebacker Lavonte David was not informed.
Joe is still surprised by David’s sitdown with Rich Eisen last week. David is a peaceful, laid-back guy who isn’t exactly shy. Does David have a show on TV? personally? Really?
Joe was even more taken aback by David’s apparent ease and comfort level, which may have contributed to one of his best interviews to date.
Mayfield attended Friday night’s Tom Brady roast in Los Angeles. David then stopped by Eisen.
Talk of all things Bucs was exchanged. Among them was Eisen’s curiosity about his thoughts on Mayfield and his response to the Bucs signing him. David claimed he could only base his expectations on the portrayal of Mayfield provided by national NFL broadcast partners and had no idea what to anticipate.
It wasn’t very excellent.
Lavonte David: If you didn’t know Baker intimately, you never [knew] what you were going to get from him from the outside.
Rich EisenSo he had a bit of a reputation going into it?
David: Obviously, yes. This was merely based on what the press and other media outlets stated about him. However, you should never judge a person by their cover when you do finally get the chance to meet them. When you have the opportunity to speak with him and truly get to know him, you begin to see why he is the way he is. This isn’t what I’m saying because he’s a teammate. The way he works and behaves in the locker room when you see him. I feel like I got my eyes opened when I realized how drawn people are to him. “Dude, you already know that Bake is one of the guys.” He’s cool. He wished for acceptance from everyone for his true self. What you love to watch is him compete on the field. Baker is an honest, kind, and modest man. observing how he looks out for everyone around him. I understand why he is the competitive guy he is—between his work ethic and attention to the offensive line.
David went on to say that he believed Mayfield’s success from the previous season came from him and other Bucs players telling him to be the best Baker Mayfield instead of Tom Brady. It was all that he had to do. Mayfield consequently blended in perfectly.
David stated, “All we asked is for him to be himself.” “We are aware of his potential as a talented football player—he made the Pro Bowl this past season.”
We are aware of his potential as a superb football player. As a football squad, we are certain that he can lead us to success. We advised him to just be himself and that we would always support him.
David continued by saying that the Bucs locker room is friendly as long as guys are authentic and give it their all.
David pointed out that Bucco Bruce Arians established the culture in the locker room, which Brady subsequently “enhanced.”
“Everyone can win football games if they just do their job and be themselves,” David stated. “We essentially told Baker that, and he helped us advance to the second round of the playoffs.”
The Bucs’ current objective is to advance further down the NFL playoff path by building on the foundation they established the previous season.
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