Baker Mayfield Met His Wife by Annoying Her on Instagram

Talk about a 21st century romance.

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Baker Mayfield’s wedding to Emily Wilkinson last week may not have happened if not for some very annoying online behavior. 

In a new profile of Mayfield, ESPN’s Mina Kimes recounts the story of how the happy couple started dating. It’s not exactly your traditional romance narrative. 

From ESPN:

The quarterback and his fiancée, who is from Nebraska, were introduced in 2017 by a mutual friend. At the time, Wilkinson was living in Los Angeles. She says she was wary of dating a "punk football player" and ignored Mayfield's advances for months: He repeatedly followed and unfollowed her on Instagram, trying to attract her attention. Finally, in late December, they exchanged messages. He begged her to meet him before the Rose Bowl, his final college football game. She reluctantly agreed to grab lunch.

Things moved very quickly after that long-awaited first date. They were living together (along with Wilkinson’s brothers) within a week and engaged within six months. 

Everyone who uses social media has been subjected to the serial follow-unfollow gambit by someone desperate for the follow back but how many times has it resulted in marriage? It only makes sense that Mayfield was able to pull it off, though. He’s a gunslinger to the core.