Common bond.
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Even though this story has been out there for three years, it still floored Rich Eisen.
The host of the show that bears his name, Eisen had a sitdown with Bucs coach Todd Bowles last week at the combine. Eisen wanted to know if the story about Bowles and Baker Mayfield was true: That Bowles told Mayfield to just be himself and everything would be fine.
Bowles said it is absolutely true and added that he and Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht each told Mayfield the same thing in their first meeting after the Bucs signed Mayfield.
“Yes,” Bowles told a surprised Eisen. “‘I’m not asking you to be Tom Brady, I’m asking you to be Baker. We don’t want Tom we want Baker Mayfield.’
“They’re different players. Tom’s legendary. Nobody’s going to ever replace Tom. Tom’s like a pair of shoes that you put up on the shelf that you wore for a long time, and you buy a new pair, and you got to break them in. And Baker came in, and he’s the new pair of shoes for us, even though he’s been in the league for a while.”
Bowles seemed to hint Mayfield may have saved Bowles’ career. And Bowles seems to think the Bucs may have saved Mayfield’s career as an NFL starter.
“I think we found each other at the right time. He’s the right fit for this team,” Bowles said.
Mayfield’s best attribute, Bowles said, is never seen by the public at large. Bowles said it is the way Mayfield interacts with teammates and has an innate ability to read the room and who to give a pat on the back too and who needs stronger motivation.
“Mentally, he is so sharp at reading the room as far as understanding what the defense needs, what the offense needs, spending time with players where they’re sitting down at lunch, giving them advice, hanging out with them later on,” Bowles said. “You know, hanging out with the offensive line. He runs with the linebackers. He does. He does a great job of keeping everybody in sync while he learns the game plan.”
Is there an element to Mayfield’s game that is lost on observers? Bowles thinks so. He believes Mayfield is a very underrated long-ball thrower.
“He’s a very sharp passer, especially a deep ball passer that he doesn’t get enough credit for,” Bowles said. “He’s been a godsend for us.”
Pretty strong words from Bowles. But yeah, it didn’t take Bowles to go on national TV for Joe to understand there’s a bond there between Bowles and Mayfield. As Bowles said, the two crossed paths just at the right time.