It wasn’t long ago that ex-Lake Travis quarterback Baker Mayfield stormed off the field of AT&T Stadium as a high school junior. He and the Cavaliers had just won the 4A Texas state championship game.
Now as a redshirt junior at Oklahoma, Mayfield looks to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to a possible National Championship—and a Heisman trophy, if he’s lucky.
Speaking of luck, that hasn’t been something he has depended on in his young career. After winning the 2011 state championship, Mayfield only received a few offers and none to the beloved school he dreamt of attending—Oklahoma.
So the 6’1”, 190-pound Mayfield decided to test his luck as a walk-on at Texas Tech. There, he caught the eye of Kliff Kingsbury. Mayfield impressed Kingsbury enough to make him the starting quarterback. This would mean Baker would be the first true freshman walk-on to start a season.
After a magnificent start, Mayfield injured his right knee in Texas Tech’s win against Kansas. The 5-0 Red Raiders were forced to go with backup Davis Webb and their season took a turn for the worse going 3-5 to finish.
Following his freshman campaign in 2013, Mayfield decided to finally transfer to the school of his dreams—Oklahoma.
Due to Big 12 rules, Mayfield wouldn’t be able to play for the Sooners until 2015—a rule he planned on appealing. How might he appeal? Well according to the bylaws, the transfer of a walk-on player shouldn’t be treated the same as that of a scholarship player. After all, Mayfield did walk-on to Texas Tech with no guarantees.
Eventually, Mayfield lost the appeal, because Texas Tech refused to sign a one-year transfer exemption.
After sitting out the entire 2014 season, Mayfield finally suited up for head coach Bob Stoops eager to prove him wrong for not recruiting him. Mayfield did just that. The persistent quarterback won the starting job over the incumbent starter Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas.
Not only did Mayfield prove Stoops wrong, but proved the entire nation wrong by having a prolific season. The Sooners went 11-1 before being selected to the College Football Playoff. Mayfield garnered national attention with his precision throwing the football.
The former walk-on threw 36 touchdowns while only being intercepted seven times.
The Sooners eventually lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl 37-17, but the legend of Baker Mayfield had already been born.
If you check Twitter or Facebook, Baker Mayfield is everywhere. He is the heart of Norman and the Oklahoma fan base. The Sooner faithful are backing Mayfield as their guy.
Now those fans will have to wait and see. Does Baker Mayfield win the Heisman? Or do Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Deshaun Watson have something to say?
