Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Thursday Night Football has had a reputation of being far less compelling than its Sunday and Monday counterparts, but when the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets took center stage, the football world witnessed what fans of the Oklahoma Sooners have understood for years.

Baker Mayfield is that dude.

After coming in towards the end of the first half, Mayfield led a comeback that the city of Cleveland and football fans everywhere are going to remember for a long time. That inspired the good folks over at BreakingT to create this:

This shirt is a work of art in so many ways. First of all, the play drawn out depicts the two-point conversion call that Mayfield was on the receiving end of. Like Philly in the Super Bowl, this is now being dubbed the “Cleveland Special”. Lest we not forget, however, Oklahoma essentially ran this with Baker in the Rose Bowl before either of these pro teams unveiled it, so we can call it the “Lincoln Special” (although it isn’t exactly the same).

Anyway, you can purchase the shirt right here.

Some other clever subtleties of the shirt’s design include the “Unlock the Fridge” line, which is in reference to the Bud Light fridges that opened after Cleveland notched its first win. And finally, the greatest part of this tee has to be the silhouette of a nasty varmint underneath the ‘P’ in the word ‘Special’. If you hadn’t already heard, this critter was discovered chilling in the Browns’ stadium. Behold, the Rally Possum (or Opossum?)!

Now onto this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Baker Mayfield had his cake and ate it too, Michael Irvin has a man-crush on the new franchise QB in Cleveland, an H-E-B Golden Shopping Cart Trophy needs to be a thing and more!

OU Links

• Peruse this quick summary of the legend of Baker Mayfield. What will he do next? I don’t know, but I bet it’ll be something amazing.

• Here are the full highlights of Mayfield’s NFL regular-season debut. The guy was throwing bullets and dropping dimes. He just has that magic touch.

• Basically one half of football in the books and Mayfield’s already among elite company after leading the Cleveland Browns to a thrilling comeback victory.

• What are you supposed to do when you win a game for a team that hasn’t won in nearly two years? You eat cake, of course!

• In case you missed it, Lincoln Riley sent Baker some love after his comeback win, and threw a little shade at Ohio State all at the same time. That’s my coach!

Mayfield caught word of Riley’s message and loved it. Apparently Riley is a bit of a jokester, because according to his former QB, he always has at least one joke in the chamber.

• Somebody tell Hue to stop. Just stop it, Hue. It’s not funny anymore. Baker is the guy, period. One more word out of you and he’s going to take your job, too.

• They really do love him in Cleveland. Mayfield’s story could end up being one of the greatest we’ve ever seen in sports, if you think about it.

• Michael Irvin also loves him some Baker Mayfield, and he’s not ashamed to admit his man-crush on the Browns’ signal caller.

• With how much Kyler Murray is balling out on the football field, it’s almost a shame we won’t get to see him play beyond this season. Is there any way we the people can prolong his football career?

• There are a number of special events happening throughout game day on Saturday when Oklahoma hosts Army, including a giant American Flag and ‘The Black Daggers’ delivering the game ball after they parachute into the stadium. Plenty of photo ops for this one, folks.

• The Sooners will wear a special helmet decal this Saturday to honor the Oklahoma Army National Guard. The decal will be of the ‘Thunderbird’ insignia, an iconic symbol that was first worn on guardsmen’s sleeves in 1939.
• They don’t call Neville Gallimore ‘Big Canada’ for nothing! Also, they don’t call Neville Gallimore ‘The Canadian Bulldozer’. Like seriously, don’t call him that. That’s just not right.

• Don’t forget to check out Crimson & Cream Machine’s Q&A with Against All Enemies for a little insight into what Oklahoma is up against when the Army Black Knights come to Norman.

Around the Sports World

• The Cleveland Browns really need to milk this win for all it’s worth. I wish this victory gear were real. I don’t know if I’d pay $90 for a t-shirt, but I might shell out $9 for that victory pepper. That kind of stuff is amusing to me.

• Browns running back Carlos Hyde accounted for both touchdowns in Thursday night’s win over the Jets, and as soon as the game concluded, he made a beeline for the hospital where his wife was in labor. Their baby boy was born Friday morning. That’s so cool.
• Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa suffered a groin injury last Saturday against TCU, and had surgery earlier this week. Urban Meyer says the recovery time could mean the talented D-lineman misses the Penn State game next week.
• Conor McGregor signed a six-fight deal with the UFC, and while the details of the deal are undisclosed, it could reportedly make ‘Notorious’ the highest paid fighter in the sport.
• UTSA and Texas State are bitter in-state rivals, and they have a trophy, so you know it’s legit. The problem? The trophy is pretty bland, but the perfect substitute has come to light. I present to you, the H-E-B Golden Shopping Cart.

Stick to Sports!

• If you’ve been to Google’s home page today, you probably saw an animated Mister Rogers doodle. On this day 51 years ago, the world’s most popular neighbor taped the first episode of ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’. I’m not nearly old enough to have watched a ton of his show when I was growing up, but I do recall catching the program every now and then. Even with such little exposure, this stop-motion, animated rendition gives me all kinds of nostalgia feels.

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