Baker Mayfield honored with Heisman Park statue

It was the annual Red-White spring game, but it was Baker Mayfield’s day.

Storm clouds floating on the horizon, a half of intense football played by the Oklahoma Sooners adjourned. Over 75,000 fans were in the stands of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, a new spring game record at OU.

For a moment none of that mattered, smoke display clouding the image of the 83rd Heisman trophy winner. Baker Mayfield was once again running amok on the field. The legend aggressively raised his arms and pumped his fists. An image any Sooner fan was familiar with when Mayfield quarterbacked the Sooners to three Big 12 Championships, and a pair of College Football Playoff berths.

The Oklahoma college football legend stood in the middle of a packed Palace on the Prairie and was the main event to what was a sensational debut for new head coach Brent Venables, and a reunion with so many other Sooner legends.

Mayfield was being honored by the University of Oklahoma for his unforgettable college career, which he capped off by winning the 2017 Heisman Trophy. The sight was breathtaking, emotional, and everything you could imagine.

Mayfield, in front of his constituents, stood with his family, and several former teammates, along with Oklahoma President Joe Harroz, and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione. The video board filled with images of thanks from various individuals involved with the university, then came a sensational mix of video and images that was narrated by Mayfield’s Heisman speech.

Mayfield spoke to an intent audience, reminiscing on his time at Oklahoma. Thanking and handing the credit to others. Mayfield’s story is captivating, a two-time walk-on, who becomes legend. It’s unheard of, and quite frankly would be shocking to see replicated. The former Oklahoma stat expressed how he felt Oklahoma was heading in the right direction, and “was back” adding “but we never left.”

Mayfield is perhaps the most loved Sooner in history because of his relatability and story of extreme perseverance. He beat a system where the code was impossible to break through.  From growing up as a Sooner fan in Austin Texas, to his family experiencing financial burdens and powering through, to him walking on, twice betting on himself. He came to Oklahoma, at a time in which the Sooners had a lot of question marks.

OU was not recruiting the way they used to, and they weren’t winning like that either. Then Mayfield and his energy arrived. The legend was born in a comeback victory over Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Mayfield appeared so stubbornly in the most Oklahoma-way, hushing the rowdy, highly partisan Volunteer crowd that was north of 110,000 strong.

Oklahoma was not going to continue to perform below expectations, not as long as No. 6 was the Sooners’ QB.
He won over the Oklahoma fan base in a way few have, and he helped guide Oklahoma back into the pole position in the Big 12 conference and got them back to relevance on the national stage.

Baker’s statue pose is a replication of this play:

Mayfield asserts “little brother…. will have to live with this one.”