Baker Mayfield is a big deal in the heart of Oklahoma football country, but early Saturday morning the All-Big 12 quarterback and two-time Heisman finalist became a major disappointment.
It’s just a few weeks before the start of spring practice, and already there is big Oklahoma football news to report. Unfortunately the news is not good.
Multiple major news outlets, including ESPN, are reporting that Mayfield was arrested in the early hours Saturday morning by Fayetteville, Ark., police on charges of public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Details are sketchy at this point, but it is abundantly clear that Mayfield was in a place and in a position that someone of his leadership stature should not have been.. Said another way, better was expected of the Sooner starting quarterback and team leader.
While you would expect much different behavior from someone in Mayfield’s position, the brutal reality he is a college kid, still sowing some wild oats, and he made an extremely poor choice – or, in this particular case, several of them.
This does not excuse his conduct in this matter, but merely attempts to put it into some context.
Oklahoma assistant athletic director Mike Houck told the Oklahoma City Oklahoman that OU is aware of the matter and was still gathering information.
Mayfield reportedly had slurred speech, was unable to walk a straight and smelled of alcohol. When a police officer asked him to stop in place, Mayfield continued to walk away and then began to run. The officer then chased after the Sooner quarterback and did what many defenders have been unsuccessful doing on the football field, running Mayfield down and tackling him.
This is the first time Mayfield has been known to be in any trouble in the three years he has been at the University of Oklahoma. Mayfield transferred to OU after the 2013 season after starting at quarterback in seven games for Texas Tech as a walk-on freshman
What will happen from here with Mayfield is uncertain. He was released on bond from jail later Saturday morning. A court date on the charges is scheduled for April 7 in Fayetteville.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Bob Stoops chooses to address this high-profile matter, although I would expect some form of discipline is a forgone conclusion.
Next: Baker Mayfield Deserving of All the Too-Early Heisman Hype
Faced with a similar situation last year with cornerback Jordan Thomas, the matter was dealt with internally and Thomas did not miss any games. It should also be pointed out, however, the public intoxication and resisting arrest charge against Thomas was not his first run-in with law enforcement.