“A Hero’s Journey”
September 18th, 2024
Two-time NFL MVP quarterback Steve Young seems to understand why Bucs fans collectively love Baker Mayfield.
Young, who the Bucs gave up on and traded to San Francisco back in ancient football times, rode the bench there for years behind Joe Montana before an injury cleared a path for him to play. Young then was dominant for seven consecutive seasons.
Chatting on The Rich Eisen Show yesterday, Young noted that Mayfield is on “a hero’s journey.”
He’s one of the rare NFL QBs that can weather massive adversity and teams giving up on him, Young said.
“‘You can bounce me around but I’m a frick’n player,”’ Young said of how Mayfield and guys like Sam Darnold carry themselves.
Young then emphasized that opportunity and grit is a rare combination.
What Joe loves about Mayfield is how much he’s embraced the opportunity in Tampa. He’s cocky but he’s no diva, a team-first guy that will do anything to win.
As time passes, more and more Mayfield reminds Joe of former Bucs Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia (2007-2008), except Mayfield has a much stronger arm.
September 18th, 2024 at 12:46 pm
Go Baker, Go Bucs
September 18th, 2024 at 12:52 pm
Bakin’ with Baker!!!
September 18th, 2024 at 1:02 pm
It seems that the media is paying attention to the Bucs.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I was a huge Garcia fan.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Baker seems like what Garcia should’ve been for us – just 7 years younger. High hopes!
September 18th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Baker is the perfect vessel to start the flow of information regarding the truth of the BA/TB12 era. The seed has been planted and now Baker can be detached. That seed needs no fertilizer only water to grow and it will. Jason couldn’t say anything nor could Todd and the players need to be left out of the conversation all together. Could this all be just happenstance ? Not likely. It’s a beautiful thing.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:24 pm
Mayfield and Garcia should never be in the same conversation. Much better QB comp in Drew Brees as we all will see in the years ahead.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:26 pm
Baker is very effective at doing what’s needed to win. I’ve said before, the dude has had a revolving door of OCs, no young QB will have any success with that scenario. He’s now in a system that he’s familiar with and we’re seeing what he’s capable of. He’s a bit more than a game manager, making a case for top 10. If we could put together any type of avg run game for him, he’s got even more upside.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Gipper Says:
September 18th, 2024 at 1:24 pm ; Much better QB comp in Drew Brees as we all will see in the years ahead.
^^^^^
I must have my eyes checked, am I seeing things ?
September 18th, 2024 at 1:42 pm
Sometimes things just work out. Had TB12 retired after the SB, there is a good possibility we would have acquired Baker and BA would have coached for a period and possibly BL would have succeeded him. It’s also a possibility that none of that would have worked out. So to take the “sunny side” view, Todd Bowles has grown as a HC, Baker has grown as a player and benefitted from his brief period in LA with Liam. Liam likely wouldn’t be here otherwise.
This team appears to me to be destined for good things.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:50 pm
Interesting point, Citrus. Fortunately we have Baker now with Coen instead of Boron Leftwurst.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:50 pm
Yeah, I’ve never seen Drew Brees. Maybe, Ol’ Bake can change that, if he continues to improve (pretty drastically), but he is just nowhere near as accurate as what Drew Fricking Brees was. Shew! He was like an assassin inside the pocket on those ‘tippy-toes’ with that facemask high in the air. Breadbasket. EVERY. Time.
September 18th, 2024 at 1:53 pm
What made Drew Brees was Sean Payton. It was a perfect marriage.
Liam and Baker now have that opportunity.
September 18th, 2024 at 2:01 pm
The idea that Baker is a game-manager needs to die. As a rookie, he was the catalyst for that offense. Stephanski is a big ego, got butthurt that his 26 year old QB knew better than him, so he signed off on ditching him. Check it out! The year baker injured his labrum, Stephanski forced him to throw 50 times in the winter with a rookie, undrafted RT (sound familiar) against TJ Watt. Also, Nick Chubb was on that team.
Game-managers need a good running game and usually don’t improvise. They don’t have elite arm talent either, and they need time to adjust to the offense. Baker can play in any system, minus the ones for Lamar and Richardson. Without Baker’s elite improvisional skills, no way the BUCs score two TDs against detroit. Baker, without a run game and protection, led drives to nail down the Lion’s coffin.
And that’s when I saw him, a king I can follow!
September 18th, 2024 at 2:21 pm
Sometimes I have to wonder just who is behind all these “stage names”.
September 18th, 2024 at 2:22 pm
So far so good! BM6 and the Bucs need to show that they aren’t playing down to the lesser teams this year. A solid victory on Sunday will help propel that sort line.
September 18th, 2024 at 2:27 pm
So to follow up, the Glazers took some big hits early in the war but have been marching toward total victory and I believe that victory is just around the corner.
September 18th, 2024 at 2:31 pm
At this point, anyone not impressed with Baker is a hater from his injured shoulder Browns year, that hasn’t watched him play in the last year and a half. Guy is a top 10 QB and it’s not even debatable anymore. His passing stats, scramble ability, and leadership intangibles are the full package. People talk about Purdy… swap Purdy for Baker and SF won the SB imo. For 35 million, the Bucs are laughing.
September 18th, 2024 at 2:32 pm
I miss Garcia’s wife… Total freaking smoke show… I still google her playmate pictures every now and then..
September 18th, 2024 at 3:11 pm
Citrus County Says:
September 18th, 2024 at 1:32 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What I was trying to say was that Mayfield is much better compared with Drew Brees than Jeff Garcia. For the 1st 6 years of their careers Mayfield and Brees statistically are in a dead heat. Moreover, I feel that in the next 10 years Mayfield will exceed Brees. Yes, I know that Brees is headed to Canton and so will Baker following at least one MVP season and a couple of Super Bowl appearances. Baker just needs to stay healthy. If things work out this year and next, Bucs will renegotiate and lock him up for another 5 years with mega millions.
September 18th, 2024 at 3:16 pm
Mayfield and Brees are a goon comparison, but Mayfield also has the ” moxie” Garcia had.
Brees rarely sold his body for a few extra yards.
September 18th, 2024 at 3:16 pm
Good
September 18th, 2024 at 3:24 pm
Gipper Says:
September 18th, 2024 at 3:11 pm
^^^^
I understood and entirely agree. I was just shocked to see someone that agrees with my Brees comparison. I don’t know if Baker will directly compare stats wise or career length wise to Brees but I contended early last year when he was first signed that he would have a similar impact on the team and organization. I believe his impact cannot be overstated. However a coaching carousel could greatly impact his career.
September 18th, 2024 at 3:37 pm
Made me think of those pregame shows with his ex-wife Carmella… good times.
Unfortunately she’s embraced the inflated, injected plastic face look now and ruined her natural beauty.
September 18th, 2024 at 4:20 pm
After some thought doubt has crept into the picture. TB12 has so many sycophants and acolytes not to mention the $375M TV contract that the seed may indeed need some fertilizer to grow. There may not be enough courage in all of sports media to call him out. If that interview with Baker has been out there for a while and no one has taken the bait yet…..
September 18th, 2024 at 5:53 pm
Hey, if you want to compare Jeff Garcia to a contemporary QB, how about Kirk Cousins? Garcia never saw his kind of money, and was always a more mobile type of guy, but both of them usually put up big reg. season numbers and struggled in the postseason. Hell, it was the 2002 Bucs that bumped him out one year. And like Cousins, Garcia signed with an NFC south team in an attempt to revive his career in his mid 30’s. As a Buc fan, I was always saddened he and Gruden didn’t connect sooner. It might have been magical.
September 18th, 2024 at 6:31 pm
A lot of first round QB success depends on where they land. I mean Baker went to the Browns and then the Panthers. Two very self-immolating clubs (front office down to coaches). Darnold had a similar journey. Now you look at Bryce Young, he’s been benched after his second game of his second year on an absolutely dysfunctional club. He may be a bust, but we will never know unless he’s traded. Bryce is the type of QB that could have possibly benefited from sitting and learning from a vet. There are legitimate busts like Manziel and then there are others who need to sit behind a vet before taking over or inherit a good team. Brock Purdy on the Panthers would be benched at the same time that Bryce is being benched. How do you explain a “bust” like Geno Smith? He got lucky he lasted long enough to wind up on a good team with a good HC sitting behind what was a good QB.
It’s unfortunate to have an inept team drafting and wasting the talent of QBs whom they can’t even develop. The Bucs are one such team as per our track record.
September 18th, 2024 at 7:04 pm
Steve Young? This ancient fan remembers watching him play against Green Bay in the Blizzard Bowl. He jumped up and down for joy when the 49ers came calling. Jeff Garcia and Earnest Graham were two good players on some real stinko Bucs teams. I followed the Chargers back when they drafted Brees. The Aints gave up the proverbial farm to nab him when San Diego released him in Free Agency. Brees was always a quality person on and off the field. Payton? YUCK! I don’t really have the knowledge to grade BM6. I just know I like his feisty smarts. Go Bucs!!
September 18th, 2024 at 11:18 pm
We would not have had success with Baker instead of Brady during Brady’s last year.
People seem to be forgetting the injuries of that year.
September 18th, 2024 at 11:44 pm
On the topic of Bryce Young Charlotte has absolutely skrewed that kid.
He should ask for a trade. He could wind up in Miami. Tua will not be back for a while, and maybe not at all. He could be very well suited to their system and Miami’s HC knows how to rebuild a QB’s confidence.
September 19th, 2024 at 9:09 am
Hero?
That’s a stretch.
September 19th, 2024 at 11:13 am
Brady has been gone from this team for 2 years now it’s time to move on from him . He doesn’t care about the bucs at all he haven’t even mention the bucs in no interview even when they ask him questions about the bucs. So please stop kissing his behind and begging him to care about the bucs because he doesn’t!!