After Oklahoma defeated Ohio State in Columbus, Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield celebrated the big win by running around the field with Oklahoma’s flag. He then made his way over to the “O” on OSU’s field, and planted the flag onto it.
Baker Mayfield plants the OU flag in the Ohio State logo at midfield pic.twitter.com/Ovas203PqP
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) September 10, 2017
The video, unsurprisingly, went viral.
A good chunk of fans tried to let Mayfield know they were offended.
@baker_mayfield6 You F#cked up ...You better hope you don't meet the Buckeyes again in the playoffs!! If so, your career ends that night!
— ML Hall (@Buck_Nut25) September 11, 2017
GREAT VICTORY, BAKER. But got 2 say it was NOT COOL to GLOAT after victory at midfield. Trashing OhioState fans is classless. Just WIN.
— John H (@JohnHask) September 11, 2017
OSU does it after every game home or away to honor their school. What @baker_mayfield6 did only shows his lack of integrity.
— Karen Egelhoff (@kheggy) September 11, 2017
Don't need to be a #Buckeyes fan to know @baker_mayfield6 lost money/draft stock Sat. No one wants a classless leader. @NFL @OU_Football
— Brett Pransky (@BrettPransky) September 11, 2017
And there are takes like this:
Classless Act By QB Make #SoonersPretenders? https://t.co/BD6SRkxsFc
— Scarlet & Game (@ScarletAndGame) September 11, 2017
And plenty more where that came from.
Kirk Herbstreit said on SportsCenter after the game that he thought it was “out of character” of the quarterback.
On Monday, Mayfield made an apology.
.@baker_mayfield6 apologizes for planting the flag after the win. pic.twitter.com/GABar6zchJ
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) September 11, 2017
“I told you guys last week that it was going to have a lot of implications on the Playoffs, and so that’s the way we prepared. So, it was an emotional game,” he said. “After the game, I did not mean for it to be disrespectful towards any Ohio State people at all, especially not the team or the players, because they’re a great team and a great program. So I didn’t mean for it to be disrespectful at all. I mean, we do the flag thing at OU-Texas, and so that’s just something I got caught up in an emotional win. Yeah, it should have been something I did in the locker room, so I apologize for doing it in the middle of the field.”
OU head coach Lincoln Riley said on The Paul Finebaum Show later that it was Mayfield’s decision to apologize.
Look, Mayfield shouldn’t feel bad for what he did at all.
OU just upset the No. 2 team in the country by two scores, and he threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns while doing it. If you don’t like it, you’ve gotta lighten up a good bit. I’m all for class and being respectful and all that, but let the dude celebrate after an enormous win on the road.
Here’s former Georgia and NFL offensive lineman George Foster:
I've never understood the negativity assigned to gloating after a win. I feel like it's my job to keep you from being able to gloat.
— FOST (@GeorgeFoster72) September 11, 2017
And former Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter:
He's a classy kid but no need to apologize... he earned the right to celebrate any way his chooses https://t.co/BaURGGd0sd
— Bobby Carpenter (@Bcarp3) September 11, 2017
SB Nation’s Ohio State blog:
Take: When you lose at home the way Ohio State just did, you deserve to get dunked on like this. https://t.co/gef60TvZqj
— Land-Grant Holy Land (@Landgrant33) September 10, 2017
And another Ohio State site:
If Mayfield is in an apologizing mood, ask him to apologize to Ohio State's secondary and linebackers.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 11, 2017
Doing stuff to the opposing team’s logo isn’t exactly a new thing.
The practice wasn’t invented by Mayfield on Saturday night. As he mentioned, waving the flag is an Oklahoma-Texas thing.
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Plenty of other teams have done this, too.
When Georgia wins at Georgia Tech, the Dawgs often plant their flag in Atlanta.
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And when Tech wins in Athens, the sideline hedges get turned into mementos.
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In 2007, Georgia’s entire team danced in the end zone after scoring early against Florida.
Sometimes, these things do get a little heated ...
Two years ago, Kentucky and Louisville got in a scuffle after Kentucky players stomped on the Cardinal head logo at midfield.
Last season, Mayfield’s team and West Virginia got in a pregame scuffle when OU players gathered on top of the WVU logo.
State troopers come out on the field to break up pregame um, pleasantries between OU and WVU pic.twitter.com/XAPz31uxfU
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 20, 2016
In 2003, Florida State beat Florida, and after the Seminoles’ victory, FSU decided to stomp on the “F” logo, which resulted in a nasty brawl. Fast forward to the two-minute mark:
... but that didn’t happen at OU-Ohio State.
Perhaps because the Buckeyes were already off the field at the time, as one OSU running back suggests.
He knew to wait until we went into the locker room to pull this one off https://t.co/JOgOdEsbQ5
— Mike Weber (@mikeweberjr) September 11, 2017
Sure, Mayfield got caught up in the moment.
But who wouldn’t after a game like that? Don’t apologize for celebrating a big win, my dude.
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