It's no secret that Baker Mayfield is a big video game player.
After all, one of his first highlights in a Cleveland Browns uniform came when he performed various Fortnite dances at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere gala in Los Angeles last May.
But just how serious does Mayfield take his gaming? Probably more than you think.
Earlier this week, Allied Esports released a two-part sit-down interview/gaming session Mayfield did with gaming personality Kristen “KittyPlays” Michaela. Before getting to the sticks, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner discussed his history with video games, including the revelation that at one point in his life, he wanted to become a professional gamer.
"I used to play Halo a lot. Like a lot a lot. To the point where it was taking away from me doing football and baseball in high school and my parents weren't exactly happy about it," Mayfield said. "But I loved it so much and I was just finding out you could go compete in tournaments for this and in my head I was like, 'That's what I want to do.'
"'Like yeah, I love playing sports, that's my passion, but this is awesome. It's new it's cool.' To the point where my dad and I got in some arguments about it."
Fortunately for Cleveland fans, Mayfield's father won out. With his efforts primarily focused on football, the Austin, Texas native enjoyed a storied college career at Oklahoma before being selected by the Browns with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft.
But while it's tough to imagine Mayfield being more impressive somewhere than he is on the gridiron, he sees a correlation between his football ability and video game passion -- something that even his father doesn't deny.
"He will, to this day, say the hand-eye coordination, the process of quickly thinking and strategizing because I played games so much to win like that, that it helped me out now," Mayfield said. "I really believe that. Because you have to think and do something at the same time. People don't realize how hard it is. Like every movement matters."
Although the PFWA Rookie of the Year has a lot less time for video games now than he did when his friends would watch him play Halo for hours at a time in high school, he still finds the time to fit some in. In fact, just prior to being drafted by the Browns last April, Mayfield said he was squeezing in some Fortnite in an effort to escape the madness of the draft.
"Just hanging out the whole week, seeing everybody I wanted to see and everybody was coming into town for the draft and finally that day happened and I'm nervous," Mayfield recalled. "So I was like, 'I don't know what to do.' So the only quiet place in our house was upstairs in the game room. So I shut all the lights off, closed the door, turned on the Xbox and played Fortnite for a while."
Admittedly, Mayfield didn't win any games, even though he was playing just until 30 minutes remained before the draft. Fortunately, he fared much better in his first season in Cleveland, although he'd still describe the adrenaline rush of throwing a touchdown pass and winning a battle royale as similar.
"Absolutely," Mayfield answered when posed with the comparison. "It's that same rush. You worked for it. You worked hard."