Oklahoma Sooners Football: Baker Mayfield takes Colin Cowherd’s lunch money during interview

National radio/TV blowhard Colin Cowherd has has been vocal in his criticism of former Oklahoma Sooners QB Baker Mayfield. Giving hot takes and getting folks to hate him is sort of Cowherd’s shtick, and in his defense, he’s done quite well for himself with that strategy. He typically focuses on particular individuals, beats a bunch of talking points to death, gets people riled up and is paid handsomely. I personally avoid his program like the plague in an effort to not play into all of that, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. On Wednesday, we learned that Mayfield would be paying a visit to Cowherd’s studio, and today we had the privilege of witnessing a public shaming that would make George R. R. Martin and the Game of Thrones show-runners blush.

Let’s go back to how this all started.

As I mentioned, Mayfield has been the subject of plenty of Cowherd’s hot takes for quite some time, and at one point he referred to Mayfield as “undraftable”. It all finally reached a boiling point when he decided to bring the NFL Draft back into the discussion.

Anyway, Mayfield was at the FOX Sports studios today to go on Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, which is a brutal program in its own right. He provided some nice answers to some mediocre questions, showing contrition for his arrest and saying a bit about the late-game play-calling and execution in the Rose Bowl. Overall, it was pretty tame. The next program, however, provided some fireworks.

The interview became legendary before it even began, as Baker decided add something to his wardrobe between appearances. Once he came out, Cowherd admitted that he “won the interview” with it. It’s tough to disagree.

Things got off to a bang when Cowherd asked him about how he feels about the criticism from pundits such as himself.

“You don’t know me at all. I think you read the big headlines to grab peoples’ attention.”

Yep, Baker gets it, and his facial expression in the opening moments says it all. Once you saw this face, you knew it wasn’t going to be a great day for ol’ Colin.

Cowherd then went on to ask about his on-field antics, such as the notable crotch-grab at Kansas.

“Have you played football past high school? It’s is a violent competitive game. You’re supposed to play it with an edge.”

It had become quite evident that Mayfield wasn’t going to be pulling any punches, and Cowherd began to shower him with compliments and downplay his past comments, stating that he didn’t think Mayfield would be a bust in the NFL.

What followed were some fairly reasonable questions and candid answers, highlighted by Mayfield’s take on his Feb. 2017 arrest in Arkansas, which Cowherd commended.

Things were fairly tame up until the moment in which Cowherd attempted to bash Mayfield for running in a different direction after throwing a TD pass to Trey Sermon in Columbus. Those who have watched Mayfield are well aware of the fact that he frequently runs full-speed in the direction of his team’s celebration. However, Cowherd decided to cherry-pick — something he frequently does — and Mayfield called him out for it. It wasn’t pretty.

He ended it by saying, “I think you’re going for the fact that I’m not a team guy. I’m selfish. Is that what you’re shooting at right here, or what?”

Baker’s response cut to the core of Cowherd’s shtick, and he essentially undressed him in front of a national audience.

“Umm...”

At this point, Cowherd internally acknowledges that he’s completely full of sh**, but he still tries to claw his way out of the situation.

“No, I don’t think that. I think sometimes your judgement’s just a tad off, and I think the NFL’s a judgement league. The game is so fast. The windows get really, really tight and really small. You’ve got to make decisions really fast. In college you’ve got that Orlando Brown guy, got a little more time... I don’t love that decision. I don’t love it.”

Of course, none of that has anything to do with what he was driving at with the video clip, but he’s conditioned to recite talking points whenever someone makes him look like a damned fool, and that’s exactly what happened right there.

Colin, you have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.

You’ll continue to make a living off the reactions of fans, media and (gulp) bloggers, and more power to you for it. I’m sure you can live with it. However, Baker Mayfield got you all sorts of rattled today.

He’s Ohio State’s daddy. He’s Texas’ daddy. He’s Baylor’s daddy. He’s Oklahoma State’s daddy. Who’s your daddy, Colin?