Baker Mayfield has not been a member of the Oklahoma Sooners since January 2018.
That hasn’t caused him to remove himself from the Red River Rivalry in any way, shape or form.
Mayfield won the 2017 Heisman Trophy while in Norman, Okla., and then became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He threw for 3,725 yards as an NFL rookie with 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
But the former Texas Tech walk-on always has been rambunctious, and not at all inclined to avoid confrontation with schools he perceives to disrespect him or his Sooners.
He once planted the Oklahoma flag in the middle of Ohio State’s field after a win. When Kansas team captains refused to shake his hand before a game, he obliterated them 41-3, grabbing his crotch and shouting obscenities at the Jayhawks’ bench in the process.
In March, Texas starting QB Sam Ehlinger took to social media to revel in the failures of Oklahoma LT Orlando Brown at the NFL Combine.
So when reporters asked Mayfield about preseason prognostications ranking Texas as a potential College Football Playoff contender, he was prepared to fire bullets.
“They said the same thing when they beat Notre Dame a couple of years ago, and they won like three games after that,” Mayfield said, according to ESPN. “I’m sick of that crap.”
But he saved his harshest remarks for Ehlinger, which were an extension of his social media retort to the Longhorns quarterback in March.
Mayfield (Lake Travis) and Ehlinger (Westlake) played at rival high schools in Austin, Texas.
Ehlinger also has said on multiple occasions that Texas is back.
“He couldn’t beat Lake Travis, so I don’t really care [about] his opinion on winning,” Mayfield said. “Westlake is a great program, but the two best quarterbacks to come out of there are Drew Brees and Nick Foles. Sam can stay down there in Texas.
“He doesn’t like me, and I hope he knows I don’t like him either.”
I guess we know one NFL franchise that won’t be drafting Ehlinger.
Oklahoma and Texas are the preseason consensus No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big 12. Texas won the regular-season meeting in 2018, but Oklahoma got revenge in the conference championship game.
Texas finished 10-4 in Tom Herman’s second season as head coach, beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to finish No. 9 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
BetOnline installed Oklahoma as a 17-point favorite against Texas in this year’s Oct. 12 showdown when it released Games of the Year lines in March, but has since removed the game from its listing.