Baker Mayfield Didn’t Come to Texas Tech to Be a Towel Boy
Baker Mayfield has made his Facebook series, Behind Baker, into a television spotlight on Fox called 'All the Way Up,' and boy howdy did he talk about Texas Tech in the first part of the show that aired Sunday, July, 29th.
Here's the first part of the Texas Tech story that opens on Baker Mayfield walking on to Texas Tech, behind former high school teammate Michael Brewer and fellow true Freshman Davis Webb.
I have no doubt in my mind the validity of this story. I believe 100 percent that Davis Webb asked Baker Mayfield to get him a towel. But it takes a guy like Baker Mayfield to turn that single sentence into a lifelong smear campaign against a guy like Webb.
That's part of what makes Baker Mayfield successful. He's never been in a real disadvantageous situation, but he can find the smallest comment and make it the biggest slight of all time. Mayfield's polarizing nature will draw two wildly different reactions to this clip, but I don't doubt that it actually happened.
The 'All the Way Up' documentary gets pretty deep into the Texas Tech/Mayfield story, which will never be fully known -- mostly because Kingsbury has been the bigger man since 2013 and hasn't commented on the situation.
The story, as Mayfield relates it, has already spawned headlines from TMZ that say, "Baker Mayfield Rips Kliff Kingsbury, 'You Treated Me Like Trash,'" which is about as sensational as you can get after watching the same clip.
In fact, I don't even think TMZ watched it. Here it is a small sample:
If you're familiar with the 2013 Texas Tech season, you know how it went down. Mayfield won the job, then got hurt. The rest of the season would be a rotation of Mayfield and Webb, with both having successful numbers. But the final five games would be losses after the team started 7-0.
The above clip is Baker Mayfield saying Kliff Kingsbury treated him differently after his injury -- which, again, is probably 100 percent true. But through the Mayfield lens, it's cranked up to another level. The docudrama would continue into the 2013 season, and Mayfield says he decided to transfer on the sidelines during the game against Oklahoma in Norman on October 26th, 2013. It was the game where Webb played the entire game and lost.
Mayfield started for Texas Tech the following two weeks in losses to Baylor and Kansas State. He would also start in a loss to Texas later in the season. So, after losing all communication, according to Baker Mayfield, Kingsbury...starts Mayfield three more times?
When the story shifts to Mayfield wanting to leave Texas Tech, his dad added a snappy one liner, starting with, "Kliff Kingsubry, in his infinite wisdom..." before talking about how he tried to convince his son not to make any rash decisions, and making the communication issues between his son and coach one-sided issues.
Mayfield then repeats the story of how Texas Tech didn't have an immediate scholarship available to for him, and the docudrama continues into Norman, Oklahoma.
As a Red Raider fan, I have no ill will toward Baker Mayfield; he made the right decision. He turned a wealth of talent into three straight Big 12 titles and a number one overall NFL Draft pick. His year off helped him to mature and realize some things about himself, and allowed him to develop as a leader.
All that said, it's absolutely bush league to continue to trash your former head coach, who gave you an opportunity. I understand that micro-transgressions are what fuels Mayfield, but you're in the NFL now, Baker -- let it go.
I don't hate Baker Mayfield, but the 'Texas Tech and Kliff Kingsbury played me' storyline is played out and shouldn't be a defining moment in Mayfield's story. It's a blip. You enjoyed your time at Oklahoma. Why continue to slam Texas Tech for allowing you to go to your dream school that you didn't think you were good enough to walk-on at in the first place?
The 'Kliff Kingsbury hated me' attitude about his time in Lubbock makes Mayfield seem like the entitled d-bag that half of America thinks he is. The other half doesn't care or even know that he went to Texas Tech.
My advice to Baker Mayfield is to leave Texas Tech in the past and find a new Towel Boy grudge to hold with someone in the NFL.
Update: Kliff Kingsbury has responded to Mayfield's version of his time at Texas Tech.
"I've always been a huge fan of Baker and loved working with him," Kingsbury told TMZ. "He had an incredible career at Oklahoma, and I wish him nothing but continued success as he begins his NFL career."