Baker Mayfield Fires Back at Critic Over Missing Start of Senior Bowl

Typically football players stir clear of any sort of controversy this time of year. Baker Mayfield has prove to be an exception in this case.

The Heisman trophy winner from Oklahoma had a good excuse this time though. News came out recently that Mayfield would be forced to miss the very beginning of the Senior Bowl down in Birmingham, Alabama over an undisclosed family issue. It ended up being he missed the weigh-in and measurement portion of the event but managed to show up while the first practice was in progress. At least one critic though felt Mayfield should not have showed up at all.

Damon Kecman of ClimbThePocket.com called him out on Twitter for merely finding a creative way to avoid the measuring portion of the event. This because there are noted concerns about Mayfield’s size. That and the fact he’s unlikely to play in the actual game led Kecman to think there’s little point of him being down there and that Mayfield is taking a roster spot away from another player who could really use it.

Mayfield, never known for being bashful, fired back.

Mayfield at least proves he’s not afraid to defend himself

One of the hardest things for a player to do is speak out in their own defense. They’re constantly told not to rock the boat, to just let things settle down. Mayfield instead sent a loud and clear message that he won’t be criticized for doing the right thing by his family. It’s admirable if nothing else. In the end he made it down to practice without incident and participated in drills. So in the end the criticism really wasn’t all that necessary.

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One mustn’t forget that several other high profile players skipped the event entirely. Some did so for injury but others to do exactly what Kecman said. To avoid exposing anything that might cause their draft stocks to dip. If nothing else Mayfield deserves some credit for at least showing up at all. He’s willing to go through the practices and meet with teams when the truth is he doesn’t have to. That speaks to his character as a competitor.