For Baker Mayfield, Saturday was Therapeutic; for Oklahoma, Mayfield's Story Was Impactful

Mayfield was "vulnerable" when he addressed the team, Brent Venables said, professing that he'd "lost his way" and needed this weekend to "reset"

NORMAN — For Baker Mayfield, this weekend has been therapeutic.

With acrimony in his relationship with the Cleveland Browns and a fan base and national media largely divided about Mayfield’s NFL career, getting back to Oklahoma where an adoring fan base and dozens of former teammates could wrap their arms around him was probably just what he needed.

“In the process of where I’m at right now of not knowing the next landing spot, to be able to come back — just potentially a week prior to wherever I’m going to find out — it’s pretty cool to come back to where this all started,” Mayfield said Saturday after his bronzed likeness was unveiled in OU’s Heisman Park. “It’s a good reset being around family, friends, loved ones. Just to have that home base, you know? You always have somewhere to go back to, that you can lean on. It’s pretty cool.”

Mayfield stood at the center of Owen Field, lifted up by some 74,000 delirious Sooner fans, telling everyone how much he loved them. Surrounded by his parents, his brother, his wife, his coach, his athletic director, OU’s president and three other Heisman winners, Mayfield said the timing of the whole thing couldn’t have been better.

His club signed Deshaun Watson from Houston, he asked for a trade, and the NFL Draft starts next Thursday — all signs that he’s about to be moved to another team.

“It’s never the adversity or the challenge. It’s what you do with it,” Mayfield said. “It’s how you set your mind to it. Obviously, I haven’t been in this situation before specifically. But it’s familiar territory when it comes to mindset and getting back to the basics and realizing what I need to do. And right now I can control getting healthy. Working. And giving everything I have to wherever my next home is.”

New Sooners coach Brent Venables said he’s felt privileged to be “a fly on the wall” during Mayfield’s weekend return.

On Friday, they met for 30 minutes in Venables’ office, and Mayfield then met with the team. His message, Venables said, was powerful and unforgettable.

“He said, ‘You know what? My dream was to play at Oklahoma. Grew up little boy, my dream was to play Oklahoma.”

Venables said Mayfield got a tattoo on his left arm that says, simply, “believe.”

“He said he didn't believe in himself,’ Venables said. “He didn't think he was good enough to walk on at Oklahoma. So, he said, he went to (Texas) Tech. That was his words, not mine.”

Venables relayed that Mayfield said his brief experience at Tech gave him the confidence he lacked.

“Like, he's better than all these other yahoos and they don't put him on scholarship,” Venables said. “So in typical Baker fashion, right, he's like, ‘Man, screw this, you know, I do believe in myself. Now. I'm going to Oklahoma,’ … and goes from a walk-on to being the No. 1 pick in the draft.”

But that’s not the end of Mayfield’s story, Venables said.

“Then he goes from that, right, being on top of the mountain, OK, to being ostracized and ‘stripped to the studs’ was his exact words. ‘I was stripped to the studs. Rip out all the wiring, all the plumbing, studs is all there was left to what he said he felt.”

Venables said it was a “great message for our guys that sometimes you have this mess in your life, man, but there's a message through it all.

“And it made him realize immediately he lost his way with his faith, he lost his way with his priorities, with his family. He got on the wrong side of it. Because he started believing all the hype and focusing on the wrong things. And he lost his way — like so many of us have.

“For him to be vulnerable in front of the team and give his testimony. And in front of the guys left, you know, held no punches back it was it was awesome. And great message for guys. He was a great example for guys.”

Mayfield said he wasn’t trying to be a role model or inspire anyone. He was “just trying to enjoy” the weekend. But it turned into something more.

He and his new statue were the centerpieces of a lettermen and donor event Friday night inside Everest Training Center, where the statue was informally unveiled prior to Saturday’s grand reveal.

Mayfield stood on the stage with Jason White, Sam Bradford and Kyler Murray, and on Saturday he was joined by Steve Owens as the newest member of the most exclusive fraternity.

He said he was fine with how the statue looked and the pose that was chosen — “We all know Joe Castiglione is going to keep it pretty appropriate, so the flag plant was never going to happen,” he said.

Mayfield said “they gave me a couple of options” and he picked the stiff arm touchdown run at Oklahoma State.

“I thought, no better way to keep a statue in the state of Oklahoma,” Mayfield said, “than for it to be a stiff arm over your little brother. Forever. They have to deal with that one.

“I was just trying to enjoy it. It’s been pretty special the last few days.”