Bucs' Baker Mayfield sounds off on college football flag-planting drama: 'Let the boys play'
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield shrugged off some of the controversy regarding the flag-planting incidents around college football.
Baker Mayfield developed a reputation for being a hard-nosed player and a bit of trash-talker when he was slinging the pill at the University of Oklahoma on his way to a Heisman Trophy.
Mayfield may have been the one to start the flag-planting tradition when he took the Sooners’ flag and put it into the ground in the middle of Ohio State’s field in 2017 after a win.
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After a swath of fights over players trying to plant flags on their opponents’ fields, Mayfield defended players for the attempts.
"I’ll say this: OU-Texas does it every time they play," Mayfield said after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers narrowly defeated the Carolina Panthers, 26-23, in overtime on Sunday. "It’s not anything special. You take your ‘L’ and you move on. I’ll leave it at that."
Mayfield didn’t seem to agree that flag-planting should be banned either.
"College football’s meant to have rivalries. It’s like the Big 12 banning the ‘Horns down’ signal," he said. "Let the boys play."
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Incidents took place Saturday following Michigan vs. Ohio State, Florida vs. Florida State, North Carolina vs. N.C. State and Arizona vs. Arizona State. Though the Arizona-Arizona State game involved the Sun Devils’ pitchfork and not a flag.
The Big Ten Conference levied the biggest discipline so far – $100,000 fines each against Michigan and Ohio State.
"The Big Ten Conference has determined that the actions of both teams following the Michigan-Ohio State football game on Saturday, November 30, 2024, violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy," the conference said in a statement. "Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders."
"As a result of these violations, the Big Ten Conference has issued an institutional fine to both the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University in the amount of $100,000 each," the statement continued.
"The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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