Baker Mayfield Would Love To Learn From Tom Brady
BOSTON (CBS) -- Quarterback Baker Mayfield wants to learn from the best to ever play the position when he makes it to the NFL.
So it sounds like he's hoping to be on the New England Patriots' draft card when the picks start flying off the board in a couple of months.
Mayfield, a star quarterback at Oklahoma for the last three years, sat down to chat with the New York Post recently, and when asked which quarterback's brain he'd like to pick, he didn't have to think twice.
"Tom Brady, no doubt," replied the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner.
His admiration of Brady's game goes beyond what the quarterback does on Sundays.
"I would love to see how he prepares during the week. I'd love to just kind of sit back and watch him first, and then sit down and ask him questions about why," said Mayfield. "Because I know he does everything with a purpose, so it'd be great to learn from the greatest of all time."
The issue there is Mayfield would have to last until the 31st pick come April 26. While it's a fairly quarterback-heavy draft, most teams picking in the Top 10 need a QB of the future, so it's doubtful he makes it to late Thursday evening without hearing his name.
Some mocks even have Mayfield going first overall to the Cleveland Browns, which has been a quarterback graveyard for nearly two decades. But rather than worry about starting his professional career with the NFL's annual doormat, Mayfield would love the challenge of turning around an 0-16 football team.
"That'd be unbelievable for me," he said of being taken with the No. 1 pick. "For me, it's a challenge that I see, and I'd love to take on that challenge and be the face of a franchise and win them games."
Mayfield certainly sounds like he has the competitive fire that would win over both Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. One thing he's made clear since arriving in the national spotlight is he hates to lose.
"Oh, I can't stand to lose. Like I said, my biggest fear is failure, and so losing is failing," he said. "In anything I do, goodness, I can't stand losing, whether it's a crossword puzzle, or Hangman or anything."
That translates into an ultra competitive football player, one that does not lack confidence in himself. After throwing 131 touchdowns in his four collegiate seasons, Mayfield believes he's the best quarterback in the draft.
"That's not any disrespect to the other guys. I've always had confidence, and I think I'm more than capable of doing everything and more," he said. "I'm confident, I wouldn't say cocky. I don't have it all figured out. If I was Tom Brady, then we would maybe have a different conversation, but he doesn't have that mentality, so that's what makes him great."
