When the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off on “Monday Night Football” this week in the NFL, two former Oklahoma Sooners teammates will step into the spotlight.
Ravens tight end [autotag]Mark Andrews[/autotag] and Buccaneers quarterback [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] both starred at OU together from 2015 to 2017, helping lead the Sooners to three straight Big 12 titles and two trips to the College Football Playoff in three seasons. The duo also helped Oklahoma win the Sugar Bowl following the 2016 season.
Although the two are still great friends, it sounds like they don’t talk much during the NFL season, according to Mayfield.
The former Heisman Trophy winner was asked about his strong friendship with his former favorite target earlier this week in advance of the game, and shared that he doesn’t hear from the former Mackey Award winner much.
“Even though Mark and I are best friends, him and I don’t talk in-season,” Mayfield said. “He’s a weirdo. He can’t exactly, you know, separate friendship and football. So he struggles with that on a year-to-year basis, so there’s a few months at a time when we’re friends again, but for right now, no.”
Mayfield went on to joke with reporters that his best friend not talking to him during the season hurts his feelings.
“It hurts my feelings,” Mayfield said. “Guy was in my wedding, won’t talk to me. It hurts my feelings, just gonna be honest.”
.@bakermayfield just wants to talk to his best friend, @Mandrews_81 😂 pic.twitter.com/yuxVRoKs1r
— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2024
Of course this is all in good fun, as Sooner fans know how much Mayfield likes joking around during press conferences. Both he and Andrews have turned into excellent players at the next level, with the latter finding a home right away in Baltimore and the former having to bounce around a bit before ending up in a great spot in Tampa Bay.
Andrews and Mayfield will face off on Monday night at 7:15 p.m. on ABC and ESPN.