Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield narrates experience with series of drug tests in the NFL
Baker Mayfield was subject to frequent drug tests in 2020 when he played with the Cleveland Browns. Random drug tests are very common in the NFL, and Mayfield, now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, is no stranger to them, but he did find it particularly odd that the league kept testing him that season.
Mayfield said on the "Pardon My Take" podcast:
“In 2020, oddly enough, when we were really really playing well with the Browns, I got tested probably 11 times that year. I mean look at me. I’m not a physical specimen. What are we doing here? ... Some of them do [stand behind]. Some of them directly stare. The others will make sure you don’t have a [fake] attachment.” [Time stamp - 1:26:46]
The star quarterback was playing so well (finished the season with an 11-5 record) that the league was convinced he had to be using something, but all his tests came back clean. Mayfield had a few really poor seasons afterward and bounced around from Cleveland to the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams before returning to glory with the Buccaneers last season.
Baker Mayfield opens up on new home
After the Cleveland Browns added Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield's time with them was over. The Carolina Panthers traded for him, but that didn't work out, and he was released. After a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams, he finally signed a prove-it deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He did prove it and earned a long-term deal. He also found a new home in Tampa. Via NBC Sports, he said:
“You’re having a lot more fun when you’re not getting shipped off to different places like a piece of dirty laundry, I’ll tell you that. So when I got embraced in Tampa, it made a world of difference. I’ve always played ball to enjoy it. I mean, it is a game.”
He added that while the NFL is a job, he loves it so much more now. Mayfield is under contract with the Buccaneers for the next three seasons, so he's unlikely to move around again for a while.