Baker Mayfield Is One Of Us
January 11th, 2025
Everyman.
Could this be why Baker Mayfield has won over Bucs fans?
Well clearly, winning helps. If the Bucs were losing, fans would want to run him out of town.
Look how much fun it was with America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. Every pass had fans on the edge their seats. Drama! Suspense! Intrigue! FUN!
Every time Jameis went back to pass it was either going to be a helluva pass or a nut-kicking pick. But no one was bored.
Alas, about 70 percent of Bucs fans helped chase him from Tampa Bay because… the Bucs were losing. Of course, Tom Brady coming to town sealed the deal (and a Super Bowl, baby).
So yeah, Mayfield winning and playing really good ball is a major reason why Bucs fans have embraced him. But Mina Kimes and Ben Solak of BSPN believe it’s something deeper. They think fans see themselves in Mayfield.
Kimes joked that she enjoys watching Mayfield because he plays like he thinks he’s Lamar Jackson. Mayfield, Solak noted, plays ball the way we would play ball in the backyard or an empty lot.
“Baker plays football like an eight-year old would play football,” Solak said. “And that’s why we love him so much. Because when we were all eight-year olds, we were all going to be quarterbacks.
“He is an absolute joy to watch play the game.”
Joe doesn’t think Mayfield intentionally tries to play like a grade school kid. But his hustle and drive and enthusiasm — moxie! — sure rub off on teammates.
And really, part of Mayfield’s everyman charm is he really is a regular guy. He hangs at regular guy watering holes. He sits with regular people at Rays games and pounds beers like a regular guy when he could easily get away from the riffraff and sit in a suite.
So yeah, Joe gets what Kimes and Solak are saying about Mayfield. Deep down he’s one of us.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:15 am
Man of the people
January 11th, 2025 at 10:18 am
8 year Olds have unbridled passion, and so does he, BRING YOUR %$#@ PASSION TOMORROW NIGHT TAMPA, LFG!!!!
January 11th, 2025 at 10:18 am
Bake is the Pete Rose of football.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:24 am
Dare I say he’s the football version of Charlie Hustle? Love his intensity, drive & passion.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:24 am
Just win baby win
January 11th, 2025 at 10:31 am
In 4 playoff games Baker has 10 td,s 3 int and 100.4 rating. 2-2 record. The first round he has 2 blow outs. Second round 2 close losses. Lets get a blow out and 3 close wins.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:38 am
Really good stuff, Joe. Thanks for posting this. I think what was quoted and what you wrote hits the nail precisely on the head. He is an every man. What he lacks in talent he more than makes up for with grit and fire. Ask the fans, ask his teammates. There is no escaping the raw honesty in the way he plays the game.
Secure Coen 2025
January 11th, 2025 at 10:40 am
Smashsquatch
Yes dare say it! It’s one of the best comparisons I’ve ever seen about Baker.
And this is from a guy who is a HUGE Pete Rose fan. I grew up right across the Ohio river cheering Pete on from his Crosley field days to Riverfront. Geez do you know you’re really old when you’ve outlived not one but two stadia? I have a feeling some of you younger Tampa guys will see a third stadium as well.
Back to Pete. He was closing in on Joe Dimaggio’s 56 consecutive games with a hit. I go out to Crosley to see him in action. I get there early for BP, I liked the entire experience. After BP the players used to head back to the locker room down the 3rd base side and fans who took enough time to get there early would wait for players to get autographs.
I’m waiting right next to a father and his grade school aged boy. Pete comes down graciously signing when the boy asks Pete, “Are you afraid you won’t reach the record?”. His father mortified about violating the taboo of talking about such things starts to chastise his son when Pete interrupts and stops him.
“It’s ok” turns to the boy and says “no I’m not worried at all. All I can do is go out there and play may best and let the chips fall where they may. As long as I give my best effort it’s all good. Just remember that. Try your hardest and you’ll never have to be afraid.”
I was blown away. Do you know how many star athletes would do something like that? How about Baker Mayfield? How about ME13 or CG14? or virtually all the rest of the Bucs. How would AB or Swaggy responded?
Count your blessings Buc fans!!! We are in the freaking playoffs with a team of talented cool dudes!!!
January 11th, 2025 at 10:50 am
Idk man, Hard to tear down Ray Jay when the Bucs won a SB in that MFer, keep renovations going forever.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:55 am
Baker is a B talent with A++ intangibles. Watching him from afar I was a bit skeptical when we signed him but he’s clearly a baller so now we don’t have to waste high picks on quarterbacks. We should try to get Miles Garret out of Cleveland this offseason.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:57 am
If you as a Buc fan are not all in on this team, you are missing the boat.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:58 am
Joe….. you owe me 10 wings and a beer.
January 11th, 2025 at 11:17 am
Oh yeah, well said Joe! Baker has found his home and fits right in. I remember saying here, for us to go after him but I didnt realize just how well it would work out. We’ve got our franchise QB now. I knew Brady’s time was limited, and JW just wasnt the answer after his 2nd year.
January 11th, 2025 at 11:23 am
He drinks beer with his OL. The End
January 11th, 2025 at 11:36 am
Great story StPete. Read it to my son and tried to explain that it is a life lesson just not a sports lesson
January 11th, 2025 at 11:39 am
MikeC
I’m with you bro! Keep Rayjay for the tradition!
I’ve only been to one Reds game at the “Great American Ballpark”.
It’s a beautiful stadium on the riverfront with some design nods to how baseball stadia should look, but it doesn’t come close to the charm of Crosley.
Riverfront, 3 Rivers and the others I forget were considered great at the time because they served both NFL and MLB franchises. Seemed like a good idea at the time but Football and Baseball are not the same and need their own stadiums.
IF the Rays are really serious about staying they need to negotiate with the Steinbrenners. Give them a sweetheart deal for Spring training games at Al Lang. It would cost beaucoup dollars to remodel Lang, but it would be a win win for both St. Pete and the Yankees and the Rays.
St. Pete gets a huge influx of Yankee fan tourist dollars. Yankees would reclaim their own history where the greats of the past used to train including the diamond at Crescent lake. Yankee fans could visit the during spring training, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig chose to live right here at the Flori de Leon Apartments in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida. You can still see those places!
The Rays of course get the only logical place they should be, right across from Ray Jay. While the stadia have to be different to accommodate the different sports the rest of the infrastructure could be shared.
I was a big part of the debate for a new stadium in downtown St. Pete. It makes no sense. Getting to St. Pete’s waterfront is challenging now for we residents! Meanwhile all along people have been clamoring for a stadium on Dale Mabry or some other location where all the young yuppies leaving Tampa after work might drop by for a few innings.
January 11th, 2025 at 11:49 am
Who in there rite mind wud say baker is a B talent what a moron OMG show where Lamar J.does anything diff than baker to escape the pocket is it some kind of foot work or what escape is only 1 way to go get the hell out as a matter of fact i’ve never seen Lamar put a stiff arm while running on a rusher & throw a strike to complete a 4th down conversion as a matter of fact I’ve never seen anyone but mayfield do that “A” talent play ain’t no B talent pal
January 11th, 2025 at 11:50 am
Pretty good analogy.
LOL! True! He’s not a pretty boy quarterback.
January 11th, 2025 at 11:51 am
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
St Pete Bucs fan
Your Rose story is a little off. Crosley Field closed in 1970 and Rose made his run at the Clippers’ record in 1978 reaching 44 games. had the distinct displeasure of meeting Pete at a Phillies Baseball camp I attended in 1978 when I was 17. I ploitely asked Pete to autograph my glove in the locker room on the only day he would be present at camp. I said Mr. Rose you are my favorite player and could you please autograph my glove?. Pete responded” Leave me alone kid-I aint got time”.
The second time I got to see Pete in person was at the Tampa Bay Downs sports bar during the off season and he was sitting with a brunette that was about 19 or 20-not his wife. There were 2 older gentleman sitting a couple of booths away and one of the men said “Hey I think that is Pete Rose” and his friend said yeah it is-go get him to sign your program. So the old gentleman walks up to Pete and says “Mr. Rose you have always been my favorite player would you sign my program? Without even looking up from his Racing form Pete barks ” 20 bucks”— the poor old guy was visibly stunned and turned away walking slowly back to his booth.
Unfortunately that is the REAL Pete Rose and he is not anything like Baker Mayfield.
January 11th, 2025 at 11:54 am
Cool post Joe! Thanks! They & you put it perfectly. And stpetebucsfan, thanks for sharing your Pete Rose story and comparison to Baker. I grew up in Cincinnati and started following the Reds & Bengals in their transition year 1970 to the newly built Riverfront Stadium. The Reds played at Crowley Field as you mentioned. Can’t remember where the Bengals played their first two seasons. Was it at Crosley Field or Nippert Stadium? I was pretty young. The Reds hosted the Allstar Game that year in 1970 if my memory serves. Watching my first Allstar game and the famous Pete Rose trucking Ray Fosse play at the plate! The Big Red Machine was born and I was hooked! Go Bucs!!!!!
January 11th, 2025 at 12:06 pm
Bucsfan
Certainly accept your criticism of Pete, however he made a run at the record more than once.
You are certainly correct he made his closest run in 78 but he had other long streaks before that including 25 in 1967 the year after I gradutated HS.
So I absolutely take your point that the CLOSEST he came was in ’78. During the middle of those streaks just like with ME13 fans started talking about the record.
As for his becoming a jerk in his later years I’m in no position to challenge that for sure. He didn’t age well. As a young man his focus was baseball but once the gambling issue exploded he became a bitter older guy. Sad. Let’s hope nothing in Baker’s life makes him age that poorly.
January 11th, 2025 at 12:33 pm
It is a joke for anyone to call Mayfield a “B” talent and comparing him to an absolute jerk like Pete Rose.
There has never been a QB evaluated in a draft like Mayfield. In a class that had Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, and Lamar Jackson among others, Mayfield was judged to have the best combination of arm strength, accuracy, and brains. Furthermore, other than Darnold he played at a major, college football powerhouse house. No wonder that Mayfield doesn’t pay any attention to social media. Most of the people saying things about him don’t know what they are talking about. Mayfield’s bad luck had him drafted by the absolute idiots in Cleveland. The same idiots are still looking for a QB after they shelled out $235Million guaranteed for a guy who will never play another down for the Browns.
January 11th, 2025 at 12:54 pm
#Fact
We’re rolling with the Bake-show!
January 11th, 2025 at 1:12 pm
It all worked out in that Draft,, Bills fans love Josh,, Ravens fans love Lamar, We love Bake Show,, Vikings love Sam(we shall see if they love him Tues),,, Let’s get a win Sunday night and then see how the cards play out
January 11th, 2025 at 2:06 pm
Sadly again guys Pete Rose wasn’t always a jerk!
Like so many stories before his the success went to his head but the real turn came after the gambling exposure. Once they booted him from the game and denied him any chance at the HOF he indeed grew bitter. Perhaps not defensible but certainly understandable.
IMHO The Tom Brady who played for the Bucs was not the same guy who played for the Pats the first years of his career. I remember his youthful innocence however and reveled along with him as he proved the naysayers wrong. By the end however I was over him…until…he was with the Bucs and then I became a fan again…until year 3 when I was more than over him and remain so.
People are complicated. From what I read, I wouldn’t know from experience, fabulous success and wealth are hard to manage for a lot of humans.
January 11th, 2025 at 2:50 pm
more like Favre imo
January 11th, 2025 at 3:09 pm
Don’t have any interesting Pete Rose stories. Or boring ones for that matter. But, I always thought it might kind of suck being out in public and having strangers approach asking for autographs, photos and trying to make small talk. Don’t get me wrong especially in the case of Hollywood that is the life they chose to pursue and that comes with the territory. But I can easily see how that would get old, pretty quick. Which probably explains why Mike likes to go to the area of the casino where he can kind of get away from that stuff.
January 11th, 2025 at 3:17 pm
Absolutely the Bake is one of us!! He fights every second of every game. He raises the emotion and energy of the team with the amazing plays he makes !! The Bucs (we) are so lucky he’s with us. I really believe Baker Mayfield will take us to the Super Bowl before the end of his career!!
My goodness what a great quarterback he is !!
Go Bucs !! Beat the Commanders again!!
January 11th, 2025 at 4:05 pm
Baker Mayfield is better than Lamar Jackson.
January 11th, 2025 at 4:11 pm
Good thread. Baker is gonna sell a lot of #6 Buccaneers jerseys.
January 11th, 2025 at 4:50 pm
I wonder which part of his talent pool is B?? I could “see” an argument for it but in the end, I don’t know…
January 11th, 2025 at 6:24 pm
Pete Rose in an NL/AL All Star game in the the 1970’s ran over Ray Fosse, Indians catcher who was having a Johnny Bench type season when Pete bowled him over at home plate. Fosse was never the same with a shoulder injury that cost him a year of while he recuperated. There was no reason for Rose to do that in what was essentially an exhibition game. Some people think that was just hard nosed Pete. Others thought it was totally uncalled for. Depends on your perspective. Don’t think Mayfield has as a goal a desire to hurt anyone on the football team. You can play competitively and cleanly.
January 11th, 2025 at 6:39 pm
Gipper
You realize they thought it was uncalled for because it was an All Star game which they considered meaningless.
I certainly agree the game was meaningless but Rose never played in a “meaningless” game. I honestly do not believe he gave a crap about Fosse and just made the play like he ALWAYS did, TO WIN!!! I think BOTH Baker and BRADY would have done the same thing in Pete’s position.
January 11th, 2025 at 6:54 pm
stpetebucsfan,
I remember that play at the plate like it happened this afternoon. Fosse was totally defenseless catching a high throw at the plate. Pete hit him at full speed like a safety hits a receiver reaching to catch a pass over the middle. Pete could have hook slid around Fosse to score but he decided to hit him at full speed and run him over. Fosse was never the same player after the injury. Pete later proved what a dirtbag he was by betting on games that he managed. That guy should never be in the Hall of Fame. Jerk is too kind to describe Pete Rose.
January 11th, 2025 at 8:07 pm
Watching Rose first thing you saw was he’d run full speed to first on a walk! Had never seen that before. If you were the third baseman and Rose was going from first to third on a single you had better be all in. A tough Oklahoma kid, Johnny Bench, was part of that Big Red Machine with Rose. Funny story the night before that all star game Rose and Fosse and their wives had dinner together. Rose had no reason to run over Fosse, he was safe by a mile. More hits than anybody in the games history. But betting on the game of baseball, even as the manager, is the unforgivable sin in baseball and he lost his right to be anywhere near the hall of fame.
January 11th, 2025 at 8:15 pm
And stpetebucsfan no Baker wouldn’t have played like Rose did on that play. Rose lost alot of baseball players respect from that one play.
January 11th, 2025 at 10:24 pm
Kenton
I respect your posts but we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
We now have youtube and I’d give you the link but links get posts tossed aside.
You know how to use youtube just go to the replay.
Fosse is CLEARLY blocking the plate with Rose barrelling down for one of his trademark headfirst slides. Pete NEVER hook slid and most people thought he was crazy for putting himself in danger going head first instead of feet first with spikes high like Ty Cobb.
The FIRST person to check on Fosse was Rose who was friendly with Fosse off the field.
People can be upset by his dickish senior years, I get that. They can be upset at his gambling but he always gambled on his OWN team. He was NEVER suspected of making game changes that would benefit another team he had wagered on which is the true mark of a cheat.
Now betting on your own team DOES “cheat” the bookies and wise guys in Vegas because of inside info. Is that really the worst thing a guy can do, mess up the line in Vegas? AGAIN HE ALWAYS BET ON HIS OWN TEAM.
January 12th, 2025 at 12:02 am
Joe Says: “Look how much fun it was with America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. Every pass had fans on the edge their seats. Drama! Suspense! Intrigue! FUN!
Every time Jameis went back to pass it was either going to be a helluva pass or a nut-kicking pick. But no one was bored.”
That was NOT fun, Joe! That was a freaking nighmare! Don’t try and gaslight me, lol.
***Sooo glad that dummy is gone!!***
January 12th, 2025 at 12:42 am
stpetebucsfan, always good to get your perspective, can count on it being well thought out and well communicated. And I appreciate we can disagree without reproach. Don’t need to rewatch that home plate collision it was simply an over the top dirty play and would have been even in a playoff game. They say Rose and Steve Carlton(great lefty pitcher) when they were with Philly had a problem with amphetamines. That may have been Roses problem that all star game. My brothers and I lived and breathed baseball, my 4 sons were the same and now my grandsons are as bad as the rest of us. And all of us played at high levels. Pete Rose was hugely disappointing in that every baseball player knew how baseball gambling would ruin the game and that one strike and you are banned from the game. Pete somehow thought he was bigger than the game and I think Gipper got it just about right.
January 12th, 2025 at 5:44 am
Joe, Stpete and all the great Bucs fans on here. If you have not seen it yet Baker did a special with the Manning brothers hosted by Eli on Prime and shared on YouTube as well dressing up as a Bucs fan Gus Swayze where he walks around One Buc Palace as one of us regular guys and it was Great to see. I watched it yesterday with my 10 year old son again and you really see how down to earth he is and how humble he is when some of the fans are talking about how much they respect him. It’s about 35 minutes and in my opinion it’s Awesome.
As always Joe thanks for what you guys do on this site.
January 12th, 2025 at 9:36 am
@Kenton
It’s great to have another poster to debate/discuss without having to worry about insults! I appreciate you.