Baker and Emily Mayfield settle in another NFL city, hope to stick around

TAMPA — Baker Mayfield loves golf, even if he hasn’t been playing very long. One of his best buddies is the PGA Tour’s Jason Day.

His wife Emily, on the other hand, can wear out the dimples on the ball.

“I can usually take this one,” said Emily, pointing at Baker. “I grew up playing. He picked it up on our honeymoon, so I taught him everything he knows.”

Baker says when they play, they like to call it date night.

“But sometimes, we don’t talk after date night,” Emily added. “He’s getting better. He’s leveling the playing field a little.”

Baker shook his head and smiled. “You know, she’s a country club girl that grew up playing golf. Leveling the playing field for me is not letting her play as much so I can get my (golf) training in.”

Sunday, the Mayfields were at Topgolf Tampa, home of their first event for the Baker & Emily Mayfield Foundation. The tournament and dinner were to benefit early childhood literacy and “level the playing field” for area youth aided by the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County.

“We’re both super passionate about working with youth,” Emily said. “We both grew up in very blessed households. It depends on kind of the market we’re in, but something consistent with every city we’ve been in is there’s always a need to help the youth.

“Here, specifically in Hillsborough County, it’s one of the biggest school districts in the U.S. So there’s a massive, massive need for it, to level the playing field in terms of getting pre-K kids literacy ready so they can go to kindergarten with confidence and the readiness. The coalition serves like 30,000 kids and that tells you how many are in need.”

Baker was joined at Topgolf by more than a dozen teammates, a list that included Mike Evans, Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke, Patrick O’Conner, Jamel Dean and Vita Vea.

That outpouring of support has made the vagabond quarterback and his wife feel at home in Tampa Bay. This is their fourth NFL team since July 2020. After spending his first four seasons in Cleveland as the Browns’ first overall draft pick, Mayfield split time last season between the Panthers and Rams before signing a one-year, $4 million contract with the Bucs in March.

This past Tuesday he was named the starting quarterback after a long competition for the job with former Gators star Kyle Trask.

By his side through the entire journey has been Emily. What have the past 13 months taught them?

“A lot of resiliency,” Emily said. “It’s always super fun and I’m lucky to help support him. But again, the last couple years, I’m just happy when he’s healthy. So I can deal with the moves and just sort of roll with the punches. But obviously, for me, too, the goal is to be here long term and not have another move out like we did in January of this year. But it’s fun, though. It’s an adventure, but he’s a more fun roommate when he’s winning.”

Baker credits Emily for allowing him to undergo so many changes over the past year. “I would not have survived without her,” he said. “She knows that. To have the support of someone who is constantly in your corner is everything.”

The Mayfields have tried to do something to impact every NFL community they have lived in but have been overwhelmed by the support of the Bucs and Tampa Bay.

“We always try to embrace the city we’re in,” Baker said. “But to have that given back to us, you can’t really put it into words. But we’re really lucky to have that.

“The game of football, we’re blessed to be able to call it our job but there’s so much more to life than just football. I think you see just organization-wise, how (the Bucs) run things just how well from the top down. The culture here is a great culture.”

Baker finished up a productive preseason Saturday, completing all six of his pass attempts for 43 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown to Chris Godwin, in a win over the Ravens. He finished 14 of 15 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns in his only two preseason appearances.

Now all that remains is the start of the regular season Sept. 10 at Minnesota. Before that, however, the Mayfields are trying to learn what to do in order to prepare for Tropical Storm Idalia.

“I’m used to tornadoes. I’m from Nebraska,” Emily said. “So this whole hurricane thing. … I’m a landlocked girl. I’m not really sure how to go about it.”

On the field, Baker is hoping his future won’t remain clouded. He said he and the Bucs are anxious to get the regular season started.

“Firstly, I’m all about winning,” Baker said. “Win as many games as possible. Obviously, the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl but you’ve got to start by winning your division first.

“Everybody is writing off the NFC South, but I think it’s going to be a lot better than people think. A lot of new faces in the division, so we’re ready to compete in that division and win it again. Obviously, we’d love to be here long term and the way to do that is to win a lot of ball games.”

Emily looked at Baker and smiled. “This is the most fired up I’ve seen him,” she said.

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