All apologies
Baker Mayfield says he didn’t want to disrespect Ohio State with the “flag deal.”
Baker Mayfield had barely planted his feet behind the podium when he started speaking.
He had something to say.
“Before any questions,” he said Monday during Oklahoma’s weekly press luncheon, “I’m just going to go ahead and address the whole flag deal.”
Ah, yes, the flag deal. Saturday night after the Sooners dismantled Ohio State, the OU quarterback took a giant crimson flag for a victory lap — but he never made it all the way around Ohio Stadium. Instead, he took a detour and planted the flag at midfield.
Well, he attempted to plant it; Ohio State has synthetic grass, so it didn’t exactly stick.
I suspect how disrespectful you think Mayfield’s actions were has a direct correlation to how much you like OU. Or don’t.
But Monday, Mayfield apologized.
“It was an emotional game,” he said. “I told you guys last week that it was going to have a lot of implications on the
playoff. It was an emotional game, and so after the game, I did not mean for it to be disrespectful toward any Ohio State people at all, especially not the team or the players. They’re a great team, a great program, so I didn’t mean for it to be disrespectful at all.
“We do the flag thing at OU-Texas, so it was something I got caught up in. Yeah, it should’ve been something I did in the locker room.
“I apologize for doing it in the middle of the field.”
This flag deal has been nothing but interesting —and this latest chapter only adds to the intrigue.
Why did Mayfield apologize?
He didn’t have to do it, of course. Many fans bothnear and far found it ridiculous that he did. He was masterful Saturday night, after all. Threw for
386 yards, three scores and no picks. Sparked one of the biggest wins for the program in recent history. He earned the right to celebrate on enemy sod.
And besides, he ran around with the flag. He didn’t assault someone with it.
But he apologized nevertheless.
Sooner coach Lincoln Riley said Monday afternoon on The Paul Finebaum Show that Mayfield’s apology was all the quarterback’s idea.
Earlier in the afternoon when I asked Riley about Mayfield’s apology, the coach said he wasn’t surprised by it.
“I’m glad,” Riley said of Mayfield apologizing. “I don’t think it should take away from the quality of the game that it was. Two really good football teams on the field. Great atmosphere in Columbus.
“That, to me, should be the focus of what happened.”
That, to me, is why Mayfield said sorry.
Even though he said he didn’t want to disrespect Ohio State, his reasons go beyond that. He’s smart. He’s savvy. He realizes that perception is extremely important in college football. Important because big decisions are made by human beings.
Whogoes to the College Football Playoff.
Who wins the Heisman Trophy.
Those are choices made by people, and peoplemake assumptions. You see someone who you don’t know well do something goofy, and you assume they’re goofy all the time. It’s human nature.
So, all those people who are going to vote on the Heisman and on the playoff teams see Baker Mayfield plant that flag, and they think, well, what?
Some might think it’s fine, but just as many might think it’s uncalled for. Or worse.
That, then, could become how they associate Mayfield with that big win at Ohio State. Instead
of all the great plays and all the important moments and all the gutsy contributions, Mayfield becomes the guy responsible for the wholeflag deal.
Frankly, the national conversation was trending that way. Instead of talking about how great Mayfield was, media both traditional and social spent the day or so after the game focused heavily on the postgame celebration.
The Dan Patrick Show, for example, had ESPN analyst and Ohio State alum Kirk Herbstreit on Monday morning. Patrick opened the segment about college football’s reaction to Mayfield by saying, “I think they’re underreacting to how he played. I think they’re over-reacting to the flag incident after the game.”
Herbstreit defended Mayfield for planting the flag, calling what he did “just his personality.” But ...
“That was probably a little uncalled for,” Herbstreit said.
“I don’t think he meant it to come across in a way that was belittling or just being completely disrespectful. I thought it was more playful for them. It’s not going to come across that way to Ohio State fans.”
Ohio State fans might not be the only ones who don’t like what Mayfield did.
But Mayfield could’ve brushed off those folks. He could’ve said he was just having fun. He could’ve insisted he didn’t have any reason to apologize. The fun police weren’t going to come and arrest him.
But he understood the perception.
“Obviously, if they did
that here,” he said, “I’d be (ticked), too.”
Baker Mayfield is no dummy. He knew what he was doing Monday at that podium. He was trying to change the narrative. He isn’t a bad guy. His team isn’t a rogue bunch.
His words were more than an apology. They were a conversation shifter, turning talk back to the game and away from the whole flag deal.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at (405) 475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/ JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.