Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield already plays with a massive chip on his shoulder, and data suggests that making it even bigger doesn’t seem to be a good idea. That’s exactly what one fan did on Sunday in Week 5, however, and Mayfield made sure to make them pay for it.
Mayfield and the Buccaneers got a huge win over the Seattle Seahawks in a 38-35 victory, but well before that, a fan decided to chirp at Mayfield while the team was waiting to come out of the tunnel during pregame. Mayfield responded, of course, by making NFL history with his performance.
No one on the Seattle Seahawks seemed to give Mayfield any bulletin board material, so a fan decided to do it for him — and it went viral after it was caught on film.
The fan was heckling Mayfield prior to the game, and Mayfield looked to him and told him “You’re gonna be quiet at halftime” along with calling him a name we probably shouldn’t repeat in print. Here’s the video of the exchange:
Mayfield seemed to take the fan’s chirping to heart. He’d go on to win the game for the Buccaneers, but in doing so, he also became the first quarterback ever to boast 375-plus passing yards and fewer than five incompletions in a regular season game, throwing for 379 yards and two touchdowns.
What’s more, he didn’t forget the fan. Mayfield ran back over toward him at the end of the game and pointed at him, which proves that he had the fan in mind the entire matchup.
The fan was chanting “you still suck,” but the words couldn’t be more false. Mayfield has objectively revived his career in Tampa Bay, and after throwing for 41 touchdowns last year and being on pace to do something similar after throwing 10 in his first five games, it’s safe to say that he doesn’t suck — in fact, he’s one of the league’s best quarterbacks at the moment and is arguably an MVP frontrunner.
Mayfield will get the chance to continue his excellent campaign when the Bucs face off against the San Francisco 49ers at home on Sunday at 4:25. Maybe there will be another fan at Raymond James Stadium to help give him some more motivation.
