Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield gave his thoughts on the flag-planting that occurred across the college football landscape as rivals faced off on Saturday.
"College football is meant to have rivalries," Mayfield told reporters on Sunday. "That's like the Big 12 banning the 'horns down' signal. Just let the boys play."
The 29-year-old has some experience with the subject during his college days at Oklahoma, planting the Sooners' flag on the Ohio State logo following an upset victory over the Buckeyes in 2017.
Mayfield led the Sooners to a 12-2 record that season, securing a Heisman Trophy win by throwing for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns compared to six interceptions. He was subsequently selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
On Saturday, four games contained teams attempted to plant their flags on opposing logos.
The gesture wasn't taken lightly by the losing teams, as multiple fights broke out.
The most notable instance occurred following Michigan's surprising 13-10 win over No. 2 Ohio State. After the victory, the Wolverines headed towards midfield to plant their flag before several players on both teams were involved in a physical altercation.
Pepper spray was eventually used to break up the brawl and both schools were later fined $100,000 each for the incident.
Similar feuds occurred in NC State's 35-30 victory over North Carolina as well as Arizona State's 49-7 blowout win against Arizona.
Florida also planted its flag following a victory against rival Florida State, leading to Gators head coach Billy Napier issuing an apology after the game.
"Obviously, what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program," Napier said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "It's embarrassing to me, and it's a distraction from a really well-played football game. I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization just in terms of how we represented the university there. We shouldn't have done that."
Mayfield's impact on the celebration hasn't been forgotten, as Texas players planted a flag through his jersey after an Oct. 12 win over the Sooners.
As he was known for his highly competitive nature during his college years, Mayfield doesn't appear to be a proponent of a potential ban of the celebration.
Read 482 Comments
Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation