Lamar Jackson welcomes Baker Mayfield to Heisman fraternity
Jake Lourim
NEW YORK — Before Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield received the Heisman Trophy on Saturday at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square, Lamar Jackson had some advice for him.
“Try not to cry,” Jackson said.
“Are you serious?” Mayfield recalled thinking.
When the Oklahoma star did accept college football’s top individual honor, when he held the trophy and took the podium, he ended up getting emotional in talking about his family and his head coach, Lincoln Riley.
Even Jackson couldn’t avoid being overwhelmed last year when he won the Heisman, a sentiment that, both now know, accompanies the moment.
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Neither had a bad word to say about the other all week. They met last year as Heisman finalists when Jackson won and Mayfield finished third. Mayfield was the prohibitive favorite entering this year’s ceremony, and Jackson said he’d be happy if Mayfield won.
“I’d just welcome the Heisman brother,” the Louisville quarterback said Friday.
Mayfield ranks fourth in the country with 333.8 passing yards per game and leads the nation with a 71 percent completion rate. He has thrown 41 touchdown passes, second in America, with just five interceptions.
“He’s tremendous,” Jackson said. “He was the GOAT out there. He was ballin’.”
Mayfield also led Oklahoma to a 12-1 record, a Big 12 championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff. He shined last week in the conference title game with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He became a front-runner with a month to go in the race.
The results reflected that perception. Mayfield received 732 first-place votes, the fifth-highest number in Heisman history and 86 percent of the total possible points, which is third all-time.
When Mayfield’s name was called, Jackson stood and embraced him. He then went on stage as a past winner and hugged Mayfield again.
“I was calm,” Jackson said afterward. “I was ready for anything to happen. Glad Baker got it. He did three years, so he deserved that. He had an awesome season.”
Mayfield’s press conference afterward, and his video feature during the Heisman show, traced his background to his days as a prep quarterback at Lake Travis (Texas) High School. Lightly recruited out of high school, Mayfield walked on as a freshman at Texas Tech. After his freshman season, he transferred and walked on again at Oklahoma, where he has started for the last three seasons and eventually earned a scholarship.
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According to reports, he is the first former walk-on to win the Heisman.
He, Jackson and Stanford running back Bryce Love appeared together often over the course of the weekend, in countless photo shoots and media sessions.
“Just stay humble,” was the advice Jackson had for Mayfield. “Throughout everything, the process, anything. People will come for you, stuff like that. Just be a great person about everything.”
“Don’t cry” was the other piece of advice, one Mayfield recalled with a smile afterward.
“It’s been great being around Lamar,” Mayfield said, “and I think we have a friendship that will last a lifetime.”
Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jakel.