DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum The Bake Show

Thought it was pretty interesting. I always thought Baker came from a very wealthy family, him saying they lived from apt to apt and his parents and brother did a lot for him to succeed.

Baker seemed honest, the cubical thing is nothing. I bet 99% of athletes who have been boo'd would say or think the same thing.

Baker says he had a good rookie year, then his 2019 season sucked. He had a good 2020 season and his 2021 season sucked. Sounds like what we all say. again he seemed honest about it.

The ups and downs and having the four different head coaches and all the instability...Most of us said the same thing for season after season before Baker.

I liked how he had that beer bong thing sitting on the counter, mostly advertising but cool, sure the boys did use it.

Baker saying he felt disrespected, who wouldn't. Berry maybe should have said we are going to look at the QB situation and go from there.

I'm not a fan of Baker, though it didn't portray the bs the press who are trying to make off season headlines.

He's a soul who has to deal with life as we all do. Fortunately for fans it's not as public as an athlete.Guys sitting around just talking about life's experiences, thought it was pretty good.

Sorry. My post probably came across as an attack. I admit i was aggravated by 888 telling yet another lie on me reinventing history. So again, I'm sorry. Even if you think you think that Baker was mistreated, I can accept that. Just gun shy due to guys like 888, WSU, Pit, and Purp roaming about like wolves on the attack.

Hey bro..........I have a very different take on Baker and this situation than you, but you know what.........I respect your opinion and won't resort to insulting your character like guys such as WSU, 888, Purp, Pit, and OCD do over and over.

Different opinions and takes are welcomed in cilvil and intellectual societies. Not so much in juvenile and corrupt societies.

It was a lot more interesting than watching Johnny Manziel drinking champagne on an inflatable Swan.

LOL

I'm not a Baker fan at all Vers. I didn't see that big of a deal out of the podcast, on his views about the subject.

It's like reading twenty different articles from sport heads. Everyone has a different feeling of things.

To me, the constant refrain of "everyone needs to do their jobs" after games was passing the buck. It was tough watching Baker not be able to make routine plays, watching receivers run wide open and not get the ball, watching Baker struggle to make plays in crunch time then have him say after games "everyone needs to do their jobs". It always made me cringe. I always wondered what the players thought about that line of reasoning. Sometimes he would say he played like crap. Sometimes he owned it, but that was few and far between. But his most consistent refrain is "everyone needs to do their jobs". I always felt as the leader of the team he overplayed that. That's basically blaming others.


What exactly was he mad at KS about? Or better yet what reason did he have to be mad at Stefanski? Stefanski consistently defended Baker in the media.


I really think this notion is overplayed. Receivers have a route but also react to the defense. If Baker was a better processor of what was happening out there, OBJ wouldn't have to always exactly be in a spot. If that's the way your offense has to be run, you don't have much of shot.


This confirmed how much the Detroit game bothered him and how it continues to bother him. And how poorly he is handling it.

Am I missing something? Isn't Baker exactly the reason OBJ wanted out? I'm not aware of any other reason being reported.

OBJ didn't want to be in Cleveland in the first place from what I've read.

Wasn't it also reported that he would consider coming back next season? The only difference between last season and this upcoming season is that Baker is gone.

I've read/heard that. From reputable sources? I don't know. He just had another surgery, which, from what I read, would cause him to miss a chunk.

I wouldn't want him here anyway. Play like a fool while here, after admitting you didn't want to be here? (cleveland). Nah, we've enough drama right now. He can take his second operation knee and go go somewhere else.

Thanks for the detailed response. My comments before were specifically relating to Baker blaming others - something I don't agree with. And in answer to your points:

- I don't live or get NE Ohio broadcasts - I don't see post game pressers, only read them online or summaries. If I missed something of importance let me know ... but I remember both KS and BM both trotting out "we have to do better" and "I must do better" throughout the season. I didn't take it at the time to be blaming others. Neither did the media. I don't remember any comments on this board to that affect. Using those words now and to interpret them as meaning something they were never referred to during the season seems a stretch to me. jmo. I think if they don't sit well with you maybe it also has something to do with your general sentiment towards Baker .... just maybe?

- I am not excusing Baker and his hissy fit with KS at the end of the season - and I don't agree with airing any team issues in the public - but I *believe* Baker was upset mostly about play calling in the Pit game. From memory = We had a lot of pass plays with our rookie 3rd strong RT 1 on 1 with TJ Watt who is the best pass rusher in the NFL. The RT may as well have been a statue on some of those plays. From memory we were very pass happy in stretches - I believe that Monday night football with Peyton Manning and Eli (?) even commented on this several times. I remember commentators on regular network commenting how much of a hindrance Baker's harness was and how it especially impacted throws to the left side of the field. Again - going from memory - but after this comment we watched 3 or 4 pass plays all to the left sidelines all of which looked bad. . . . So KS definitely deserved some scrutiny. Just not from anyone in a Browns uniform and especially not the QB.

- I didn't raise the OBJ saga to debate the reality of him being open or in the right place. I fully agree better QB play finds OBJ regardless. But there was a day throughout that saga when the Browns spin machine went into motion and several reporters talked about OBJ running the wrong routes and freelancing to get open. . . . To your point about blaming others, Baker could have easily jumped on that train and he did not. To be honest - Baker has always had issues with his emotions and immaturity and during those OBJ issues I actually thought Baker handled the situation as well as he possibly could. Actually gave me hope that maybe he had turned a corner. Obviously not based on what we have seen since.

- And talking about the booing is childish. Talking of booing people in their cubicles is silly. But it doesn't relate or support Baker blaming others and being 'just like Hue'. And that was my only real point.

I've said since everything started to break - Baker should simply stfu, get off social media, wait till the whole situation is resolved and focus 100% on being a better QB. That's not happening and he continues to show is ass. But despite immaturity and other issues, personally I've never seen Baker as the finger pointing type and certainly nothing like Hue.

I keep thinking of one play last year, not sure which game it was. I think it was a 3 or 4 pick game. Anyway, Landry was on a route and there was heavy coverage underneath and absolutely no one behind him. He starts to go deep and Baker threw for a comeback. Landry hit the breaks and slipped. The ball was easily picked off. The game day thread, and the post game thread, had people blaming Landry for the pick because he fell down. The ball never got to where he was. This is an example of one guy reading the play one way and the other guy reading it another. To my untrained eye it was an easy read. Landry had nothing but room behind him.

Responding to part of Diesel's post as well as Rish's.


The thought/feeling is nbd, for sure. It's not hard to empathize and sympathize with the thought. It's that that 99% wouldn't verbalize that thought. It's the same thing as comparing how Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz, Baker all handled their respective off-season moves.


You've been banging on this drum basically since day 1. It sounded like manufactured/fake drama before (IMO). As I've admitted before, I'm looking back on some of these games/PCs with a very different perspective given how this off-season has played out with Baker.

I think Baker is a spoiled brat. His interview came across to me as a spoiled brat. I was appalled by him last year when he lobbied to get a convicted murder off his death sentance. The victims families had to really feel victimized yet again. Showed his really poor character. The Browns should have never drafted a QB #1 overall that short. He was just marginally better than Johnny Manziel. He showed in his actions to Hue and the Giants QB by his comments he had no class. I am actually glad he was replaced and feel the teams future is in better hands with Watson.

I would be surprised if Baker's agent gave the the okay to go forward w/the podcast. With all the reports out there of Baker being immature and not being an "adult" in the building, it seems counterproductive to do a long podcast that included things like Baker feeling disrespected by the Browns.

Do other guys in the NFL go on podcasts to throw shade at their team? Maybe a TO or Chad Johnson did? I don't know. But, I think of Jared Goff. He played in a Super Bowl w/the Rams. Did he do a podcast when the Rams were considering trading him? Jimmy G also played in a Super Bowl. Did he take to the airwaves to say how disrespected he felt that the 49ers gave up the farm to draft an raw rookie to replace him? Hell, I think Carson Wentz is immature and similar to Baker in several ways, but did he do what Baker just did?

If I were Baker's agent, I would tell him to handle the situation w/class and try to quiet the whispers about him being immature and not a great teammate. I would not encourage unwanted attention that is yet another verification of how Baker is immature.

I will agree that there's not a lot of sound bites or reports of Baker overtly blaming others.

But I also believe Baker doesn't take accountability (which was my original statement).

The second implies the first but doesn't require it. I think the main point here is Baker rarely seems to want to take accountability.

As for the Pitt game, it is my belief and opinion that Stefanski was making a point. If I recall correctly, Baker had begun to throw some shade toward game plans, etc. leading up to that game. I think Stefanski said 'ok, let's see how it goes'. Let's open things up. We saw the results. I think we can all agree that Stefanski is a not a dumb guy. He saw what was going on out there. If I had to guess a better QB gets the ball out faster.

Is this an apology? You and 888 lead the personal attack charge on me. I don't think I ever responded in kind. Just gave my opinion and let you guys get spun up. I didn't expect that from you just based on your posting personality/style over the years.

Now lately you've been "coming around". Therefore, I think you should remember this mantra in all future instances where we have a difference of opinion - "Rishuz is always right. Rishuz is always right."

I guess it was more of an admission of guilt than anything. I did come after you hard, and probably pushed the limits of what can be considered 'normal message board discourse' at times. Sorry about that (THAT is an apology).


lol... if anyone is entitled to a victory lap then I guess it's you in this thread. You were correct.

I don't like victory laps. I was just ribbing you.

I'm the type of guy and hang out with the type of guys that if we are out having drinks or just shooting the breeze, we clown on each other.

It's all in good fun.

I learned my lesson when disagreeing with Rish when he said that Chud lost the team about half way thru the season.

I was a Baker fan but this disrespected stuff gets under my skin. The Browns took him no.1 in the draft. The Browns gave up 3 first round picks+ to get his replacement.
The Browns gave him a contract that will pay him about 50 million bucks. His agent was was asking for even bigger money for future years. The results were frankly mediocre.

The Browns were in a spot, should they pay Baker big money for likely average play?
They chose to look around and go with somebody they thought would be better. That happens to every player in the NFL eventually. It's the nature of the business.

I'm sure the Browns wish he'd played better. The fans certainly wish he'd played better. No disrespect but if you're an average player in the NFL and don't know you might be replaced that's on you.
Currently at his present salary there are no takers for his services. Seems to me if he's feeling disrespected he should be bad mouthing the rest of the league not the Browns

That's the way I took it, but if you were serious I wouldn't hold it against you for the reasons you stated.

j/c

If Baker were my son, I'd have implored him to take the high road. If Berry and Ski were my sons, I'd have implored them both to be upfront with Baker. If all (3) were my sons, I'd be disappointed with how this ended while still being quite proud of all (3) of them.

Seems to be your go to line now. How many drinks did you have before posting that? It's only not an attack when you do it. We get it and you will be too.

Not sure not taking accountability for yourself and blaming others is entirely the same thing or that one implies the other. And I think you
I don't remember that play but there were other plays where commentators - hell even Troy Aikmen who never seems to say a nice word about the Browns - commented on how a route looked like it should have been run or designed. Bottom line I don't know, the commentators don't know. Baker played plenty bad last year, I still think most of that was due to injury and harness. I saw and heard commentators talking like that and assumed they were right - but they might not have been. When Baker gets his next chance we'll get a better picture. I still lean towards his ceiling being what we saw in the last 9 games of 2020 but unless he gets his head out of his butt the challenge will only be bigger.

I will say that I wish people would make up their minds. Almost every poster on this board claimed thought Hue was a crappy coach and should have been canned sooner than he was. It seems pretty funny when they said it, they felt they were right. When Baker says the same thing suddenly he's not taking responsibility. So it actually has nothing to do with what was said but rather who it is that's saying it. As for myself I thought Hue should be given a roster with enough talent to win with first. He was and failed miserably. So by the time he was fired I agreed it was the right thing to do also. But it was proven and agreed by all that Hue was a total failure. Unless of course Baker says so. Then it's a big deal.

And as far as Baker goes, I've always stated both the negative and the positive. At one point you considered me a hater of Baker. lol I've never been his biggest fan but also haven't ignored many of his positives. I'd say overall I've been fairly balanced as far as he is concerned. Now suddenly I'm some huge Baker fan who is upset by the fact he will no longer our QB. That's just an outright lie by those perpetrating such BS. While I won't attempt to bog this thread down with my reasoning for why I dislike the move that was made, it certainly wasn't because I'm upset by this FO getting a better QB which Watson most certainly is. I've stated that I believe watson is a much better QB and as far as on the field of play they upgraded the position.

But I'm also not going to ignore the way things went down from Baker's perspective. People try to use examples of "Did *inset name here" act that way when he was cut or replaced?" Like that's an accurate gauge of things. Because actually addressing the details of what transpired in each of these cases would not be to their advantage. There was a public statement made that Baker would be our starting QB in 2022. Did that happen with these" other players"? At that point people say, "but you can't believe PR statements from an NFL FO". Then when that same FO tells you that Baker's replacement was "carefully vetted" they proclaim it as gospel.

When you make a public statement claiming a QB is your guy to only turn around and replace him, that isn't something between a player and a FO alone. At the point you make such a statement public, it's out there for everyone to see. That's what happened.

Up until this point I don't feel Baker handled the situation badly. His letter was nothing that dissed anyone or was in bad taste and those who wished to make something out of it had to stretch everything out of context to do so. But this podacst is a bit different. I feel any normal, rational thinking person can see that it was not in his best interest to do this. It certainly won't help him professionally and does look like a gut instinct reaction. Much like his letter it's not as bad as people are making it out to be but it's certainly not the path he should have taken by any means.

If Baker recently dissed Hue - or if there is a discussion on Baker talking about Hue I missed it. . . . What was said on the board: that Baker - Like Hue - blames others for his failings instead of taking ownership of his own short comings. Not sure if you misunderstood back and forth or if I missed something. I disagree with the idea Baker blames others, and that's what I've posted about the last couple of posts.

Obviously I have been a Baker supporter - and I will be when he moves on and isn't playing the Browns. I truly appreciate the spark he brought to the Browns the moment he stepped on the field for an injured Tyrod. Sidetracked here - but when we talk about if Baker can elevate the people around him, I'd say just based on how the team looked with Tyrod vs Baker you could say Baker definitely elevated the team that year. Anyway - getting back on track - regardless of supporting Baker, personally I detest anything in/on social media from him or from his wife. I hate anything where Baker needs to talk about how he feels, what happened, what challenges he did or didn't have .... I personally believe he just needs to get on and be the best QB he can be and to that end absolutely NOTHING, no matter how seemingly justified, Baker says in a public forum for public consumption helps. If he has to say anything he basically says "wherever I am and whatever situation I end up with, I'm going to work my damn butt off to be the best I can be". End of.

Man, he is going to talk himself right out of the league. Once again, he is resorting to blaming others. Trashing other players is a horrible look. Both Pioli and McGinnest were in the league and understand how these things play out in the locker room.

He really should have just shut his mouth, but he can't help himself. Rabbit ears.

So, let me get this straight… Baker is the bad guy because he spoke out about his side and his views… And Deshaun Watson (a possible predator) is the second coming. If he ever gets to play… Y'all don't deserve a good QB. smh.

If Baker dedicated himself to playing the position as much as he runs his mouth
About things that really don't matter at the end of the day, he would be
Employed by now.
Mayfield grew up with every thing handed to.him. He never had to face adversity.
When he faces adversity, he folds.
Baker was a 1st RD bust. All of a sudden John Dorseys drafts arent looking so good

"All of sudden" - LOL.

I don't think people are saying that.

As a person who has been in the Baker camp and would have been good had we kept him and all was cool with that situation, Baker didn't look good. He didn't do anything that will help his situation. Baker may think he is a starting QB, but what he feels doesn't matter, it's what other teams feel.

I think he can get back there but it is going to take him a few years of kicking around as a back-up and a few teams before he get's there. How he does in that position will dictate how it all turns out.

No matter how all of that works out, even if he starts this year, all of this doesn't bode well for us being able to salvage a whole lot out of him in the way of a trade, and who knows, maybe that was his goal? Like he said, he could retire now. I don't get the feeling that money is a big concern nor is doing us any favors. I think he would be fine with sitting at home, collecting $19 million.

jc
If Baker doesn't take another snap in the NFL, he's still going to be a millionaire. $18.9 Million is not chump change. I like the guy, I don't like some of the things that he has done recently. As the old adage goes "It's best to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." I understand he's still in his 20's and I know from experience that sometimes you make really bad choices at that age that you regret later in life. I wish the kid the best.

You have to look at the two situations in isolation and they are not linked in any way - imo. Baker just needs to shut up publicly. I've no doubt that the ESPN show or whatever it was cherry picked the most inflammatory remarks, they may have played snippets that lost some context .... but at the end of the day nothing that was said was unfair, the criticisms of Baker were realistic and balanced. I think the board's inference that there is a pattern and history of Baker blaming others for his issues is a faulty premise - being salty with KS after one game, and this snippet about how to motivate retiring players isn't a pattern of behavior like Hue.... but Baker opening his mouth and talking about his feelings and talking about others is dumb and Baker owns what he does in that regard.

Saying things like some players don't want to win and are just in it for the retirement fund is not going to endear himself to other players across the league. Also, using the number of head coaches and offensive coordinators as an excuse is not going to win him any points w/other organizations. Scott Pioli was a pretty decent GM and he said that he would not bring Baker into his locker room when McGinnest asked him a direct question about it.

Everyone who has played competitive sports knows that it's tough at times and that your feelings are often beat-up. It's hard to not be viewed as good enough after you have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into a passion. That is a human angle that most of us can relate to. If I were in Baker's camp and he insisted on doing the podcast, I would have pleaded w/him to say that while he was hurt and disappointed about how his time in Cleveland came to an end, but then thanked the Browns for the opportunity they provided him. Then, adding in something like how he believed in himself and how he is going to use this as motivation to do everything possible to become the absolute best player he can be and that his resolve in succeeding as a QB in the NFL has only been strengthened by this temporary setback. Trashing teammates, blaming coaching changes, wanting to boo fans, using the injuries as an excuse after the medical staff cleared him to play, etc is not the "adult" and professional way to handle the situation.

I didn't have much problem with what Mayfield had to say. He came off a little bit whiny, but overall seemed like a good guy who's motivated to prove his detractors wrong. I do have a problem with choosing this group of frat-boy slappies in this venue to make his case. The host kept trying to be this zen master waxing all magical/mysical about God-knows-what. It was like Oprah meets Dude Perfect.

IMO, Baker should have showed up on a mainstream show like Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, or even his nemesis Colin Cowherd. He should have dressed in big boy clothes, NOT nut-hugger shorts, and tried to conduct his first interview with a prospective new team. Bloodied but unbowed, humbled but still determined to be better from it. Instead he chose a dormitory bull session that has the people who put out the grown-up in the QB room narrative saying "See?".