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A few season back Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam drafted a quarterback with all the tools he believed necessary to be a starting quarterback. His name was Johnny Manziel. The quality Haslam most admired in a franchise QB? Attitude, gobs and gobs of cocky in-your-face attitude. Unfortunately there is often a small line between attitude and youthful immaturity, so Johnny Football was shown the door.
Baker Mayfield-- sometimes derisively called Manziel Light by unhappy local Browns fans-- seemed to be hatched from an identical egg. Like Manziel, Mayfield was undersized; prior to draft day he performed stretching exercises to barely reach the six-foot mark. Unlike Johnny Football, with Baker's trash talking came a delicate ego which was easily bruised after a Browns defeat or his poor performance on the field. Too often, Mayfield's defense mechanisms would surface resulting in interceptions and ill-advised throws. Acutely aware that he wasn't a 6'6" Josh Allen or Justin Herbert with a rocket arm, Mayfield would perform adolescent stunts like passing as far as he could downfield-- when the winds off Lake Erie were howling at 30 mph. It's easy to pass 65 yards with that kind of a tailwind. And finally Baker Mayfield broke the cardinal rules of team play; don't piss-off your star wide receivers by ignoring them and get on the bad side of African-American players in the locker room.
Now at age 27, Mayfield has a second (perhaps final) chance at redemption in Charlotte, North Carolina. Already his wife Emily has become enamored with the lush surroundings of their new home. Arguably the largest serendipitous benefit of the Big Move to Carolina? It's not a Cleveland joke!!!