Baker Mayfield, a forefather of controversial behavior and flag-planting as a college football star, has spoken out about the barbaric weekend on the field that saw several fights across the country.
It may have been the perfect violent storm being the final week of the college football regular season, meaning it’s the last real chance for most teams to change their fate in the College Football Playoffs.
Those season-defining games also, more often than not, turned out to be rivalry games with bitter enemies ready for a scrum.
A flag-planting incident at Michigan-Ohio State began the day, after the Wolverines defeated the then-second-ranked Buckeyes and celebrated the victory by planting their corn-and-gold flag in the heart of Columbus.
The Ohio State staff took that as the harshest form of disrespect and a fight ensued. The fight was so bad that the police had to use pepper spray to make cooler heads prevail.
‘(Oklahoma)-Texas does it every time they play. It’s nothing special. You take your L and move on. I’ll leave it at that,” Mayfield said, seven years after he planted the Sooners flag in the same spot Michigan players did on Saturday, with 99.9 percent less rejection.
Mayfield has spoken out about the various fights at this weekend’s college football games.
Michigan-Ohio State began the day with a violent fight sparked by a flag-planting incident.
Mayfield’s flag-planting didn’t stop him from winning the Heisman Trophy in 2017, even after his cross-grab to the crotch against Kansas was vilified as a rude gesture. His antics also didn’t stop the Cleveland Browns from selecting him first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
The fight between the Wolverines and Buckeyes set off a string of college football fights across the country, including incidents between Florida and Florida State, North Carolina State and North Carolina, Missouri and Arkansas, as well as between Auburn and Alabama.
Notre Dame’s Rylie Mills also threw a punch in the middle of his team’s game against USC at a fallen opponent.
“College football should have rivalries,” Mayfield continued. ‘That’s like the Big 12 banning the “horn down” signal. Let the boys play.
Another fight instigated by flag planting occurred in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Saturday night.
Rival rosters Florida and Florida State couldn’t keep their hands off each other either
Notre Dame’s Rylie Mills also threw a punch during the game against USC at a fallen opponent.
Ohio State and Michigan were fined $100,000 for the fight, which is a pocket change for two sports programs of their stature.
Other punishments are expected to be handed out to individual players and schools in the coming days.
There is also a belief that some conferences could ban flag planting altogether to prevent some of the instigating actions of Saturday’s group fights.
Although Mayfield does not outright condemn combat, his words still refer to most rivalry games that do not end in violence.