The Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB shares his method behind the madness.
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield shows off his impressive trash-talking skills on the new season of Netflix’s Quarterback.
The master of the form talks to Entertainment Weekly about if there is a line he will not cross when smack-talking opponents.
The quarterback reveals one way he likes to get under players’ skin.
The Quarterback documentary series on Netflix offers unique access to players’ off-the-field lives, but some of the most entertaining scenes from season 3 occur on the field thanks to the trash-talking exploits of Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield.
Throughout the seven episodes, the mic’d up Mayfield taunts, teases, and tears up defenders with both his arm and his mouth, and it makes for absolutely hilarious must-see TV. But how does the Heisman Trophy winner — who has never lacked for swagger — find that balance of vocalizing his supreme confidence without crossing a line… or is there no line when you’re on a football field?
“There’s definitely a line,” Mayfield tells Entertainment Weekly. “To me, you have to be able to perform before you can really say anything, or you’re just running your mouth and nobody wants to hear that.”
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mayfield has definitely performed in Tampa, where he was a leading MVP candidate last season before injuries and losses started piling up. After spending a season as something of an NFL vagabond when the Cleveland Browns made arguably the worst decision in NFL history to pursue Deshaun Watson, Mayfield has seen a career resurgence since he settled in with the Bucs in 2023. And that resurgence has led to an increase in on-field chatter.
“It’s the fact that I feel comfortable in Tampa,” Mayfield says. “It’s the fact that I love playing for my teammates. I enjoy competing and laying my body on the line for them.”
Of course, as college football fans know, the man has never exactly been what anyone would call a wallflower. “I’ve always been one to let my emotions be shown on the outside, wear them on your sleeves, whatever you wanna say,” the quarterback admits. “And football’s a competitive, violent game, and it’s supposed to be passion. It’s supposed to be bring out the best in you emotionally and physically at the same time, it’s supposed to challenge you.”
And that is exactly what we see on Quarterback. “You get the raw side of what these athletes on the field are going through, and the little things back and forth and the nuances throughout the game, I think the fans are gonna love.”
However, the QB is quick to clarify that he’s not out there on the field trying to make good TV. This is all heat of the moment type stuff. “None of that’s for camera. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was mic’d up or not. I think that’s kinda well documented throughout my career.”
And what about the assertation he makes on the show that he doesn’t start the trash-talk and only engages when others begin with him first… which is then followed by examples of him appearing to initiate the chatter? “Well, they’re not mic’d up, so it’s gonna look like I’m initiating,” he claims, with a smile on his face. “But that’s fine. That’s fine.”
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay BuccaneersBaker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With all the trash talk on display on Quarterback, does Mayfield have a favorite line he’s used or a favorite target to torment?
“No,” he answers, but with a caveat. “It’s always fun when a young guy tries to start to talk trash and you get into it with them and you just kinda act like you don’t know who they are, even though you do, because you read your scouting report. You know very well who they are. But it’s always fun to try and mess with them.”
And that messing is now thankfully being seen — and heard — on our TV screens.
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