The revival of Cleveland football began with an expletive. Naturally.
With 1:23 to play in the second quarter of the Browns’ Week 3 game against the Jets, Baker Mayfield, playing in place of a concussed Tyrod Taylor, approached the line of scrimmage for his first NFL play. A linebacker noticed the rookie quarterback’s presence behind center and started yelling, reminding Mayfield that he was fresh meat and that this was the NFL, not the Big 12. The Jets were coming for the 23-year-old, or so he was told.
Mayfield stared back at the unnamed New York defender and calmly replied, "I don’t even know who the f— you are."
A few seconds later, Mayfield connected with receiver Jarvis Landry for a 14-yard completion. A couple of hours after that, the Browns won a game for the first time in 635 days.
MORE: Mayfield Effect in full force in Cleveland
The story of Mayfield's first regular-season interaction with an NFL defense came from his offensive linemen. It eventually reached Browns senior media broadcaster Nathan Zegura, who told Sporting News.
"The offensive line came (back to) the sideline and was like, 'This is our guy,'" Zegura said.
The authenticity. The confidence. The swagger. The very attributes that moved the Browns to draft the Heisman Trophy winner out of Oklahoma with the No. 1 overall pick are infiltrating the entire organization. They’re why the team will be a trendy pick to win its division in 2019, something that has not happened in Cleveland since the first year of the George H.W. Bush administration.
And they're why Mayfield is SN's easy choice for the face of 2019 in the NFL.
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Mayfield is not the lone force behind the Browns' resurgence, of course. A bulk of the credit goes to the man who drafted him. General manager John Dorsey has padded the roster with talent at multiple positions, and, Zegura said, the GM has spearheaded a much-needed culture change from an organizational level.
But, Zegura noted, "The truth is you can't have change unless it's happening on the field."
And to be fair, the winds of change in Cleveland began well before that moment of trash talk against the Jets.
"Everything you had heard about Baker Mayfield was that he was such an incredible leader, and that he was a guy that was going to basically take over and change this franchise," Zegura said. "I got to meet him when he flew in the next day (after the draft). The thing that just sticks out about him was that he was so authentic in who he was. So undaunted, unfazed and ready to come in and get to work. Completely comfortable in his own skin and unapologetic for it."
For any NFL franchise, such traits in a QB are welcome. For this specific franchise, they create a euphoric sense of relief.
The infamous Tim Couch jersey that for years was displayed in the window of a Cleveland ad agency was taken down in 2016 after the NBA's Cavaliers delivered the city its first major sports championship since the Browns' NFL title in 1964. But the list of Browns starting QBs since 1999, taped to the back of the jersey in succession down the back, had grown to 24.
It eventually reached 27, and at that point Sporting News ranked all the QBs — an exercise that illustrated just how embarrassing the team’s fortunes at the position had been. With Taylor set to become the 29th starting QB on the list before the 2018 season, and just before the Browns drafted Mayfield, SN pointed out the 10 times Cleveland could have fixed its QB problem.
Now the most relevant Browns jersey is the current No. 6.
This is the perfect conclusion to this story pic.twitter.com/GyzDzWBoZL
— Jared Mueller (@JaredKMueller) December 24, 2018
For that reason, Zegura, who has been with the Browns since 2013, said he doesn't know what he’ll do with himself in late February, when he’s usually engaging in endless Cleveland QB-related chatter leading up to NFL free agency and the draft.
"We all know it's not just the most important position in football," he said. "It's the most important position in all of professional sports. And the Browns have a guy that should be doing this at a high level for the next 15 years.
"It feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off this team, this organization, this city."
Mayfield Mania, though, is not limited to Northeast Ohio.
According to Trendogate, the term "Baker Mayfield" became a nationally trending topic on social media in the United States seven times between Weeks 1 and 15. Regionally, it became a trending topic hundreds of times in that span.
The reasons ranged from jaw-dropping highlight plays on the field to buzz-worthy quotes in interviews. Arguably the most memorable: After the Browns beat the Falcons in November on the strength of Mayfield's three touchdown passes, he explained to media that he "just woke up feeling dangerous."
Shortly thereafter, the Browns started playing Kenny Loggins’ 1986 hit "Danger Zone" during games at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The buzz will be amplified in 2019. Now that the Browns have their QB, they will shift their free-agency and draft focus to his surroundings; Mayfield's name will be mentioned repeatedly when NFL analysts break down Cleveland's roster moves.
The Browns will be a popular pick to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002, when they finished second in the AFC North and lost to the division-champion Steelers in the wild-card round. The 2019 version of the Steelers will be said to be heading in a direction opposite the Browns. The developing Mayfield, opposed to the aging Ben Roethlisberger, will be the reason.
The media exposure will increase. Zegura noted Mayfield's charisma in that spotlight, telling the story of how the QB, prior to an appearance on Cleveland Browns Daily, grilled the hosts about an Ed Oliver bobblehead in the studio. Oliver, the University of Houston defensive lineman, was thought to be competing against Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray in the 2018 Heisman race. Mayfield was "so quick" to defend his former teammate's candidacy, Zegura said.
Put it all together — the talent, the fortitude and the ripple effects — and you have a new star in the NFL.
WATCH: Mayfield's best throws from near-perfect game in Week 14
And not to be lost in the hype: Mayfield is a player used to being doubted, which, in a strange way, makes him the perfect QB for the Browns. In college, he was denied a scholarship at Texas Tech and felt inclined to transfer to Oklahoma, where he had to walk on and work to earn his starting spot.
That was before he was erroneously compared to notorious Cleveland draft bust Johnny Manziel, and before he was selected by the franchise most synonymous with QB failure.
"We could not have asked for a better leader in terms of the magnetism he brings in a city like Cleveland," Zegura said. "This is an authentic city, and he is an authentic guy. You go back to what LeBron said: 'Nothing is given, everything is earned.'
"Does that not epitomize Baker Mayfield?"