Lions HC Dan Campbell shares his favorite Baker Mayfield story

Campbell had a lot of good things to say about the Buccaneers quarterback and seems to hold a lot of respect for him.

While some members of the Detroit Lions have taken to trash-talking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, others have a much fonder view of him.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell discussed Mayfield during his media availability Wednesday. He gave him plenty of compliments, but there was a story he had to share that he believed showed his leadership qualties.

Campbell had a particularly fond memory of Mayfield, and it went back to Mayfield’s time as an Oklahoma Sooner. Campbell was the tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints at that time in 2018, and he told a story about heading to Oklahoma to scout a Sooner tight end and how he ran into Mayfield there:

“I’ve always been a Baker fan from afar. I loved him when he was coming out. I tell this story, this, to me, said a lot about him. I went and worked Blake Andrews out when he was coming out of OU. They came out the same year, tight end. And so, I went out there — well, his quarterback, it’s cold, but he comes out there. I think he’s got flip-flops on. It’s Baker, Baker’s going to throw for him. Baker threw for every one of his guys that was coming out that year.

“I think he’d already had two private workouts the two days prior and he had one that afternoon and I think the one the next day. That just says a lot about the guy. There’s no wonder why people rally around him and follow him, because he’s that type of teammate, right? I mean there’s a lot of guys who wouldn’t do that, ‘Well, I’ve got to save my arm. I’ve got so-and-so club coming in.’ That wasn’t him, so you can respect stuff like that now.”

Campbell seems to think very highly of Mayfield, so it also stands to reason that he certainly won’t underestimate him heading into the game. Mayfield was a former first-overall pick in the NFL draft, and he’ll be facing off against another one in quarterback Jared Goff when the two teams collide at Ford Field on Sunday at 3 p.m.

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