"I never said that" - Baker Mayfield backtracks on his 'I’m gonna f**k them up' comment about Browns
Baker Mayfield has had an interesting few months since the turn of the year. After being replaced as the Cleveland Browns' QB1 by Deshaun Watson, the quarterback was ultimately traded to the Carolina Panthers. And recently, a comment he made about his former team to NFL reporter Cynthia Frelund went viral.
When asked about his Week 1 matchup against his former team after the Panthers' final season game against the Buffalo Bills, Mayfield reportedly told Frelund that he was going to "f**k them up."
“I’m going to fuck them up” - baker mayfield on week 1 vs #browns https://t.co/xoeZ296WQw
The Panthers face off against the Browns in Week 1, so it makes sense for the new Carolina quarterback to be fired up for the game. However, in a recent press conference, the 27-year-old stated that he didn't say what multiple news outlets reportedly said he did:
“Well first, I didn’t say it. Obviously, everybody is gonna write whatever story they want, there’s history, I played there the last four years. I’m an extremely competitive person, everybody knows that and if I wasn’t wanting to win then there would be a really big issue of me being the quarterback here.
Baker Mayfield: “Well first, I didn’t say it.” https://t.co/fjjiTNiGC1
“I want to win in everything I do, that’ll never change, now that's not how I phrased it, that’s not even what I said so I’ll just leave it at that.”
It is not known if the chat between Baker Mayfield and Frelund was meant to be just between them or not, but once the comments got out, it created the perfect storm for the Week 1 matchup.
Browns star Myles Garrett heard the 27-year-old's comments and said via cleveland.com that they will "take it and use it" for the season opener. One can only imagine what kind of fuel that will give the Browns against their former teammate.
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Baker Mayfield versus Cleveland sure to be a blockbuster
The season opener for every one of the 32 NFL teams is met with get anticipation and excitement. After months of mini camps, training camps, joint practices and games that don't mean anything, players finally get to the real stuff.
Then you add in that you are playing against one of your old teams and one that clearly disrespected you in a very public way, it all makes for a perfect opening game for the new season.
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Given that it is a Panthers home game as well, the former Browns quarterback will have the home crowd behind him and going by his efforts in preseason, Carolina could spring an upset.
Baker Mayfield played in Carolina's second preseason game, going 4/7 for 45 yards and then going 9/15 for 89 yards and two touchdowns against the Bills as he stood out.
For many, Week 1 can't come quick enough, but for Baker Mayfield and the Browns, their clash has extra meaning behind it.