Before the Cleveland Browns made him the first overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, Baker Mayfield thought he was going to be a New England Patriot and become the heir apparent to Tom Brady.
Mayfield was unaware that the Browns wanted to select him first overall up until the actual day of the draft. Mayfield spoke with ESPN's Mina Kimes about joining of his arguably the most successful and hates football franchises out there.
Until the day of the draft,” Kimes wrote, “Mayfield wasn’t sure the Browns would take him with the first overall pick. (For a while, he was convinced New England would trade up for him at No. 2.)”
“He found the challenge of joining a long-struggling team — Cleveland’s last playoff appearance was in 2002 — exhilarating. ‘I wanted to come here and play and be the one to change it right away,’ he explains, snapping his fingers.”
Another takeaway in the article was how Mayfield met his wife, Emily Wilkinson. They married last week and are currently enjoying their honeymoon.
If it wasn't for Baker's persistence on Instagram, the two likely would've never hit it off.
Via 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.
Talk about a gunslinger in the DMs.
Mayfield had an impressive rookie campaign, as the Browns finished 7-8, their best statistical season since 2007.
The former Texas Tech walk-on completed 63.3 percent of passes, threw 27 touchdowns and has the Browns a favourite to win the AFC North.
