BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and national television/radio sports talk host Colin Cowherd have a long-standing feud where the player feels he has been unfairly judged by the on-air pendant.
And that relationship is not likely to improve in the near future, not after Cowherd ripped Mayfield for abruptly walking away from a press conference because of his issue with a question from longtime Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi of TheLandOnDemand.com.
Cowherd dedicated an eight-minute segment to the topic and did not hold back on his criticism of Mayfield.
“Grow up,” Cowherd said. “You’re a franchise quarterback. This is a $2, $3 billion franchise. Snapping at reporters? Stupidest, dumbest, cop video, running, interceptions, throwing footballs at people, it’s just not my cup of tea.
“The only people in the world supporting him? Cleveland media. Now, he’s banging on them.”
The line of questioning that had Mayfield upset was in regard to the two-minute drive after a blocked field goal late in the second quarter of last Sunday’s 27-13 loss at the New England Patriots. The Browns moved the ball from their own 16-yard line to the 39, but a sack for a 10-yard loss and false start penalty on Justin McCray turned a first-and-10 into a second-and-25.
Although the offense was behind the sticks, the Browns were able to exhaust the first-half clock.
“When the penalty happened and we’re behind the chains…No, stop saying, ‘but,’” Mayfield said. “I just told you the clock was running and we had a penalty. You want to give them the ball back? No. You don’t play, you don’t know it. That’s just plain and simple.
“Was I happy with the drive? No, we didn’t score points. It’s the dumbest question you could ask. What? Jesus, Tony.”
Then, Mayfield took to Twitter to defend his actions, which drew further criticism from Cowherd.
“I don’t want you on Twitter all day, okay?” Cowherd said. “When I vote for president, I’m not loyal to a party. I am loyal to adults. That’s why I love Russell Wilson, I love (Tom) Brady, I like (Drew) Brees, I liked Andrew Luck.
“It’s not, ‘Some are tall, some are short. Some run, some don’t.’ I like Lamar Jackson. I like Deshaun Watson a lot. Why? It’s not about tall, fast, short, run. That’s not it. I’m looking for a talented guy who’s an adult.
“I vote on my presidents the same way I would hire my CEO, the same way I like my quarterbacks. All my quarterbacks that I like have the same personality. All of them.”
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Cowherd viewed Wednesday’s incident at Browns headquarters as a further example to say Mayfield’s “instincts, his snap judgment is poor” and compared the second-year quarterback to a former Cleveland signal-caller.
“Baker’s way closer to Johnny Manziel than any of you fan boys want to admit,” Cowherd said. “Now, Baker’s way more talented than Johnny Manziel, but they share the same lack of emotional discipline. I won this one. I won.
“I never said he was going to be a bust. I said, ‘he’s a much better version of Case Keenum.’ He can win you games when you put a bunch of people around him, but he cannot overcome Cleveland’s dysfunction. Here’s Baker attacking…Why would you get into this with the last line of defense? The Cleveland media. Three billion dollar franchise, and that’s your CEO on the field. I just don’t buy it.”