CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Leading up to their Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, the Cleveland Browns said all the right things about their former quarterback, Baker Mayfield.
But after beating Mayfield's new team 26-24 for Cleveland's fist Week 1 victory since the 2004 season, Browns executive vice president and partner JW Johnson couldn't help but poke some fun at the team's former signal-caller.
"YES! HUGE TEAM WIN!! 1-0 #Browns. The locker was Off The Leash. #CFB," tweeted Johnson, the son-in-law of Browns principal partners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.
The "Off the Leash" comment was a not-so-subtle reference to the officially licensed t-shirts that Mayfield released in the days leading up to the Week 1 contest.
The limited edition t-shirt, which was produced by Glory Days Apparel and retailed for $38, depicts a smiling Mayfield in a cowboy hat and the phrase "Off the Leash," along with a broken dog collar, which seems like an obvious reference to the Browns' Dawg Pound. Some on social media have also suggested that it could be a dig at the way he was required to play in Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski's offensive system.
"I wish I could say I came up with the t-shirts," Mayfield told reporters this past week. "I got a good [marketing] team behind me and they put a few little hidden messages and just my history and subliminal stuff in there. They do a good job and I think people back home and people who have just been following me for a long time like it. It's just a fun thing to do."
Regardless of the intent behind the shirts, Johnson's tweet indicates that the Browns locker room took notice of the apparel. Cleveland All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett -- who sacked Mayfield twice on Sunday -- also admitted that the team was aware of comments that the Oklahoma product allegedly made to NFL Network analyst Cynthia Frelund, telling her "I'm going to f---" them up of his former team.
Mayfield has denied making the comment and Frelund has since stated that the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner was merely agreeing with her own sentiments. Nevertheless, the tension between Cleveland and its former quarterback was palpable in what proved to be a nail biter of an opener.