Stories Matter, and Mayfield is Spinning a Great One
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Everyone, including NFL awards voters, loves a good story. That’s especially true if the good story is a fresh one. That’s likely why Jackson wasn’t able to repeat last year, even though his numbers were better, almost across the board, than they were during his 2024 MVP campaign.
Mayfield isn’t exactly a new story, but his rise has been novel enough to make him a “newer” star than players like Allen (reigning MVP), Mahomes (former MVP) and Daniels (reigning OROY). His story overall is quite incredible.
A walk-on at two different college programs, Mayfield earned his starting opportunities and parlayed them into a Heisman Trophy and first-round consideration in the 2018 NFL draft.
The Cleveland Browns selected Mayfield first overall, followed him to their first playoff win since returning to the NFL, and then jettisoned him four years later after being presented the chance to acquire Deshaun Watson.
Mayfield was then traded to the Carolina Panthers, who eventually benched him before agreeing to release him. After a five-game stint with the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield got an opportunity with the Bucs. He’s since become their franchise quarterback and a leader Tampa has rallied behind.
“That’s my dog, man,” Irving said after Mayfield’s second comeback win of the season, per Sports Illustrated‘s Brigid Kennedy. “…Them the type of quarterbacks that you want around—highly competitive, that wanna win football games. I’d go to war with him any day of the week.”
Time and time again, Mayfield has beaten the odds to find success. Now that he’s finding it consistently, opinions have changed about the passion and confidence with which Mayfield plays—as the QB himself recently noted.
“Early on in my career, it’s looked at as cocky, immature,” Mayfield told reporters after the Week 5 win over the Seattle Seahawks. “Now, it’s moxie.”
Mayfield isn’t wrong, but that change in perception is quickly turning him into a player others want to see succeed.
By winning and winning consistently, Mayfield has managed to reinvent his image by being who he’s always been: an underdog who simply refuses to be written off.
The Buccaneers have inherited that identity this season, becoming an exciting, fun team that keeps meeting adversity head-on and finding ways to overcome. If you believe that Mayfield is the catalyst behind Tampa’s resilience, it’s hard to believe that anyone in the NFL has been more valuable to his team this season.
There certainly hasn’t been a quarterback with a more astonishing tale.
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