As noted earlier this month, as good as the NFL schedule makers are at creating storylines, even they could not have imagined the potential “revenge games” on the docket for the first week of the season.
One of those game got a little bit spicier over the past few hours.
When the Carolina Panthers open up the 2022 regular season against the Cleveland Browns, quarterback Baker Mayfield will take on his former team for the first time. Apparently he is a little fired up for the meeting. According to Cynthia Frelund, who was covering the Buffalo Bills’ sideline during their final preseason game against the Panthers, Mayfield spoke with her about the upcoming Browns game:
“I walked up to him and said, ‘I’m so excited to see you, like, go kick some butt,’ I didn’t say that word,” Frelund said on Monday’s episode of the Around the NFL podcast. “… Go kick some butt, especially Week 1, I like cannot wait. And he uses some expletives and I was like, ‘I just hope you’re like ready.’ He was like, ‘I’m gonna bleep them up.”
After the episode aired, Frelund addressed Mayfield’s comments on social media:
Oh boy, this is silly. Don’t make this more than it is. I was wishing him good luck, colorfully. He agreed with me, colorfully. What do you expect anyone to do in this situation… #browns
— cynthia frelund (@cfrelund) August 30, 2022
Still, anyone who has covered Mayfield knows of his ability to carry a chip on his shoulder. This is, after all, a quarterback who has admitted to saving screenshots of tweets from media members as self-motivation. And who can forget when the Kansas captains refused to shake his hand prior to kickoff?
Kansas players left Baker Mayfield hanging after he went in for a handshake during coin toss 👀
🎥: https://t.co/Tk1EzoYmsZ pic.twitter.com/iUPDZSRyhn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 18, 2017
So yes, Mayfield will certainly have revenge on his mind in a few weeks…playful or not.
