Heisman trophy winner Baker Mayfield earns a lot of comparisons to Johnny Manziel. Most of them have no basis in fact. However, there is one quality he shares with the former Texas A&M star. He’s not known for being the most humble guy on the planet. Mayfield has never tried to hide his own self-confidence. He thinks he’s the best there is and often plays like it. That’s why he was one of the best quarterbacks in college football. It also might be why he has little patience for pointless things.
That was on display down at the Senior Bowl. As a participant at the event, Mayfield is required to spend 15-minute interviews with certain teams who request them. For the most part, he was perfectly willing to do so. That is until he met with a scout from the Bears. According to the MMQB, Mayfield didn’t have any time for a team he knew for a fact wasn’t going to draft him and didn’t mind telling them so.
Bears get the cold shoulder from Baker Mayfield
“Baker Mayfield isn’t here for the games. So when a scout for the Chicago Bears approaches him once more in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel, where players invited to the Senior Bowl lived and worked this week, the Heisman-trophy winning quarterback musters about 30 seconds worth of patience. Then the truth comes out.
“You know I’ve got to get you for 15 minutes, Baker,” the scout tells him.
“Yeah, we’ll see. I’ve got a bunch more meetings tonight,” Mayfield replies.
It goes on like that, with the scout pressing on and Mayfield apologetically leaning away, reluctant to commit to a 15-minute interview with a scout whose team drafted a quarterback second overall just nine months ago. Then something clicks in Mayfield’s brain, like the latch catching on a closing door.
“You guys just drafted Mitchell Trubisky,” Mayfield says, “so what do you want with me?”
To be fair he’s got a point. All signs indicate Mayfield will be going in the top 10 of the draft this April. The Bears do hold the #8 overall pick but the odds of them taking him a year after getting Trubisky? It is almost impossible to fathom. He’s not stupid. He understands that better than anybody. So there is little reason to have interest in talking to a team he won’t be playing for.
Now one could argue this is a sign of Mayfield’s lacking maturity and professionalism. Two problems that bedeviled Manziel as well. Either way, it’s apparent the Bears didn’t get the reception they were hoping for.
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