Baker Mayfield isn't ready to move past losing out on the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award by just five votes to Giants running back Saquon Barkley. Instead, the Browns quarterback wants to use the loss as fuel to continue to get better.
"I'll use it as motivation,'' Mayfield said Wednesday, via cleveland.com. "But the more important thing is winning football games. Yeah, it's more frustrating than anything because Saquon, that's my guy and he'll hold it over my head forever. But you know what, I'll use that as motivation and I'll be better in the long run."
The two wagered a chain on who would win the award, and now Mayfield has to pay up.
"It'll say 'Quads' on it,'' he explained, in reference to Barkley's infamous thighs. "Not 'Sa-quads' but just 'Quads.' The two extra letters in there cost a little bit extra money, so we'll stick with just 'Quads.'"
Baker Mayfield said he’d use the Rookie of the Year snub as motivation going into next season. #Browns #CLESportsAwards pic.twitter.com/f2xWNfI8ef
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) February 7, 2019
As Mayfield looks ahead to next season, he's already looking forward to facing the Patriots and taking on Tom Brady.
"Yeah, we have them on the schedule,'' Mayfield said. "That will be awesome, to play against somebody that's been playing for so long at such a consistent level. That's one of those challenges that you try and rise up to each week, and that will be fun.''
Mayfield had a chance to interact with Brady off the field while filming the "NFL 100" Super Bowl commercial. The rookie shared his impression of the experience and went on to praise Brady.
"Obviously, being a part of something like that is very special," Mayfield said. "Some of the names in that, if you told me last year that I would be a part of a commercial like that, I would've told you you're absolutely lying. So to be able to be a part of a commercial with legends like that and actually be next to Tom Brady, no matter what you think about it, that's the greatest of all time.
"Getting to talk to him a little bit and just get to know him ... his presence is something that you feel as soon as he walks into a room. That's the kind of stuff you admire and I want to have when I finish playing."
With his first season in the NFL behind him, Mayfield acknowledged he only has one goal going forward — and that's to win a Super Bowl.
"It shouldn't be that the whole town goes crazy over one win on a Thursday," he said. "It should be the expectation that we need to be competing in the playoffs every year. We set our own expectations within the building and I've always believed that and you have to live up to your own standards. You set that and you live to that every day."