Scorned Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield shared several interesting soundbites during his recent interview on the YNK Podcast.
In one of his first public appearances since requesting a trade away from the organization, the former No. 1 pick said he “felt disrespected” when the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson in a blockbuster trade this offseason.
Mayfield also dove into how he plans on improving as a leader at his next NFL stop — starting with a blocking-out-the-haters mentality.
The 27-year-old QB admitted to trying to “force” people to like him in the past. Now, he plans on being himself and leading by example.
“I’m not going to force it. I’m going to be myself,” Mayfield said. “Because I feel like I tried to force it when things on the field weren’t going well, like in the past couple of years. I feel like I’m going to go in there and be myself, because that’s worked for me in the past. I’m going to go in with the same work ethic and mentality. And if they don’t like me, that’s fine. But when I step on the field and I play as confident as I am and what I think I’m going to do on the field the next time I get a chance to do it, I’ll earn the respect of the guys who didn’t appreciate it from the beginning.
“If I’m worried about getting them to like me, what am I doing? They don’t care if I like them either. They want their quarterback to win. They’re trying to get a paycheck. If their team wins, they get paid. So the guys who don’t really personally like me, that’s fine. But I have to have their respect. And the way I do that is just working my ass off, being myself. Because you can get sniffed out in a f—ing heartbeat if you’re fake. They’ll sniff that out quick.”
Mayfield is still a member of the Cleveland roster, but that will likely change as we approach this year’s draft.
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