The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayfield, Ward meet the press in Berea
Draft picks Baker Mayfield, left, and Denzel Ward were introduced by the Browns on April 27. Mayfield said hard work got him where he is and he will continue to work hard for the Browns.
A Browns employee, at first lukewarm on using the first draft choice April 26 on Baker Mayfield, changed his appraisal after seeing the fiery quarterback up close a day later.
“The difference between Mayfield and Johnny Manziel is Manziel came from money,” the person said. “Mayfield had to grind for everything. I think he’ll be the same way here.”
Mayfield and fourth overall pick Denzel Ward, the cornerback from Ohio State, were introduced to the media on April 27 about three hours before the draft resumed with the Browns making the first pick of the second round.
Mayfield made the Texas Tech football team as a walk-on then made the Sooners as a walk-on when he transferred to Oklahoma after the 2013 season because Texas Tech wouldn’t commit a scholarship to him, even though Mayfield won the starting job as a true freshman.
No college walk-on since the common draft began in 1967 was ever made the first pick in the NFL draft until the Browns bestowed that honor on Mayfield. He walked on twice and left college football as the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner.
“Thinking about how long it’s been and where I came from, a very surreal feeling,” Mayfield said. “Definitely not one that I
would have imagined back then, but I’m happy about it now.”
Hard work got Mayfield to this point and he vows not to change just because he was picked ahead of fellow quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen and everyone else in the draft. He says he will be the first one in the building and the last one to leave. That alone separates him from Manziel, the quarterback from Texas A&M drafted 22nd overall by the Browns in 2014. That pick turned into a disaster.
The only true comparison between Manziel and Mayfield is both are shorter than 6-foot-1 (Mayfield is 6-foot 5/8) and both played in the Big 12.
One reason general manager John Dorsey chose Mayfield is Mayfield is a leader.
“He has a burning desire to be the best,” Dorsey said
on April 26. “What I saw from him was a guy who is a leader of men, and I think that’s very important. He gets his teammates to play at a whole different level. I think that was seen at Oklahoma, and I expect him to do that here.”
Twenty-eight quarterbacks have started for the Browns since 1999. Most have had difficulty leading teammates because the Browns have been so bad for so long. They were 9-7 in 2002 and since then have had one winning season (10-6), and that was back in 2007.
The Browns were 1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 last year. Mayfield is going to start his career as the backup to Tyrod Taylor. On April 27, he says he’s comfortable with that role because he learned while sitting at Oklahoma in 2014 after transferring from Texas Tech.
The start of training camp is three months away. Mayfield might not be as content to hold the clipboard when the pads go on, but whenever his turn comes, he says he’ll be ready to lead.
“I think it starts with actions,” Mayfield said. “Actions always speak louder than words. As cliché as that sounds, it’s true.
“It starts with work ethic. It starts with what you show them during the offseason — how you develop, how you’re mentally tough. You show them how passionate you are about the game, how badly you want to win. From there, you can put yourself into a position that you’re respected and well-liked, and then you can speak your mind and you’re able to influence people with your words on top of that.”
Mayfield was 33-3 as a starter in three seasons at Oklahoma. He was on a podcast recently and said, “Kill me before I let you win.” Those seven words, the Browns hope, describe the competitor they are getting.
“To me, it’s a mentality of never giving up,” Mayfield said. “That goes beyond competition. That goes into life in general. It doesn’t matter what cards you are dealt but what you do with those cards. Never complain. Just keep pushing forward. Find the positive in everything and just fight for it.”
That attitude turned a two-time walk-on into the first pick of the 2018 draft.