Favre sees much of himself in Mayfield
Browns passer shares his supreme confidence, improvisational style.
When Brett Favre watches Baker Mayfield play, the Hall of Fame quarterback can’t help but think No. 6 in a Browns uniform resembles what No. 4 used to look like in a Green Bay Packers jersey.
“There’s no question that the sky is the limit for Baker,” Favre said in a recent interview. “And, yeah, I think his style of play, and I’ve heard the same thing about [Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick] Mahomes, and I agree with both, that their styles of play — if you had to pick a former player — would certainly match up to my style.”
Browns General Manager John Dorsey and his top player personnel chiefs also see similarities between Mayfield and Favre. It’s part of the reason why Dorsey and his lieutenants, who spent years together in Green Bay when Favre starred for the Packers, fell in love with Mayfield during the buildup to drafting him first overall last year.
The comparison has become mainstream since then. New Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. made headlines in the spring by labeling Mayfield the modern-day Favre.
Favre, 49, said he “would 100 percent agree” with the comparison and explained he gets a looking-in-the-mirror feeling from Mayfield and Mahomes because of the “unexpected” nature of their games. Dorsey was GM of the Chiefs in 2017 when they drafted Mahomes, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, 10th overall.
“It’s a play-action fake that you’ve never seen before or a flip, underhand pass or diving over three defenders or ducking your head and getting the extra yard,” Favre said. “Those are the type of things that are the unexpected that will become, at some point, maybe expected with a guy like Baker or Mahomes.
“Playing [quarterback] the way I played and the way Baker and Mahomes play is they just kind of have that added little sixth sense.”
As the GM of the Packers, Hall of Famer Ron Wolf traded a first-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Favre in 1992. Favre went on to win three consecutive NFL Most Valuable Player awards (1995-97) and lead the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowls (1996-97 seasons), defeating the New England Patriots 35-21 in the first one and losing to the Denver Broncos 31-24 in the second.
Mayfield went 6-7 as a rookie starter last season and helped the Browns finish 7-8-1 after they went 1-31 in the previous two years.
“[Mayfield] reminds me a little bit of Brett Favre. Sure does,” Ron Wolf, the father of Browns assistant GM Eliot Wolf, told the Beacon Journal. “He has a similar throwing style. He seems to display an awful lot of confidence about his ability to be able to make things happen and come on in and win you a game, and he’s done that. Imagine if they started playing him at the beginning [of last season]. They might have had a winning record.”
Perfect mindset
The Browns decided Mayfield, 24, would begin his NFL career on the bench while veteran Tyrod Taylor started at quarterback. But after Taylor suffered a concussion late in the first half of a Week 3 “Thursday Night Football” showdown against the New York Jets, Mayfield willed the Browns back from a 14-0 deficit and spearheaded the slaying of their 19-game winless streak with a 21-17 victory. He started the rest of the year, and, in just 13 1/2 games, set a single-season NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie with 27.
“I think his demeanor and instincts and so on and so forth are really what will change the face of the Cleveland Browns,” Favre said.
Mayfield is the 30th starting quarterback of the Browns since their expansion era began in 1999. They haven’t reached the postseason since 2002.
When Favre joined the Packers in 1992, they were suffering from a long playoff drought of their own. They qualified for the playoffs in the strike-shortened 1982 season but hadn’t done so during a full season since 1972.
“I was so naive I didn’t realize how difficult it is, nor did I really care,” said Favre, who guided the Packers to the playoffs in 1993, his first full season as their starter. “I just was like, ‘Hey, now’s the time to have fun. I’ve got nothing to lose.’ I get the sense that Baker has that mentality, and that’s exactly what you need in this situation.
“He’s the best [fit for the Browns] just like I was the best fit — and you don’t know this at the time — but I was the best fit for Green Bay at the time because I had this aw-shucks attitude.”
Mayfield grew up idolizing Favre and honored him before last year’s draft. With the assistance of family and friends, Mayfield re-created a classic photograph of Favre talking on the phone during the 1991 draft, when the Falcons selected him 33rd overall.
“I thought it was super creative,” Favre said. “I got a real kick out of it, a big laugh.”
Favre and Mayfield have never met, but they formed a relationship over the phone a couple of years ago. Favre said Mayfield has an open invitation to work out and study film with him.
Special traits
Favre believes Mayfield’s intangibles allow him to thrive despite his lack of prototypical size for an NFL quarterback at 6-foot 5/8.
“What matters is can the guy win, will the guys love him, will they rally around him?” Favre said. “And Baker certainly will score highest in something that is paid the least amount of attention to when it should be the first and most important thing that you’re judged and graded on.
“Baker Mayfield is one of those guys that, barring some freak injury, will have a long and illustrious career and will make people forget about Cleveland being in the doldrums for so long. I think he will be the reason that we don’t look at Cleveland like we’ve looked at Cleveland.”
Expectations for the Browns are as high as they’ve been in decades with Mayfield looking the part of a franchise quarterback and Dorsey pulling off a blockbuster trade in March to acquire Beckham from the New York Giants.
“You have to be thinking, ‘Man, they sure have surrounded Baker, who is a star player, with weapons,’ “Favre said. “Now, from the outside looking in, it all looks good. You never know. The chemistry doesn’t always add up, but there’s no way to know until you put them on the field and see how they work together.
“There’s probably some apprehension — will this guy fit well? Odell Beckham, will he work well with Jarvis Landry? Will he bitch or complain when Baker throws it to Landry and he’s wide open? Maybe, but I do think Baker can handle that and is a really good fit.”
For the Browns to live up to the hype, Mayfield will need to take the next step in his development.
“I think he just needs to stay who he is, not overthink things, not overpress,” Favre said. “Now, it’s his style. He’s going to make plays where you go, ‘Where in the hell did that come from? Oh, my God. That was unbelievable.’ And then there’s going to be some of those [where you say], ‘Oh, boy. You probably should have used a little more restraint.’
“But that’s who he is, and if I were his coach, I would say, ‘Be who you are. Be smart. And as you get older, seasoned, wiser, the other things will come. But we want you to be who you are because that’s good enough to help this team win and get to where we want to be.’ “