You wouldn’t recognize it to look at it, but the statue of Baker Mayfield Heisman stands in Norman. It’s not a Cristiano Ronaldo-level disaster, but it’s definitely not the face of Baker Mayfield either. My best guess right now is that the sculptor made a guess at what the Heisman-winning quarterback will look like in about 35 years, and then he kind of lost that vibe. I want to follow that theory because the only alternative explanation for what happened there is that the sculptor has never seen Mayfield in his life and just built a statue of a random man doing the iconic Heisman pose.
It is literally so unrecognizable that without context, the photos of Mayfield standing next to the statue would never be interpreted as a man standing next to his own likeness. See for yourself here and enjoy a good laugh:
Assumptions as to the actual inspiration for this statue’s face (we can’t in good faith assume it was Mayfield) are running amok on Twitter – comparisons range from Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton to the late James Dean 2 fast 2 angry‘ Cole Hauser too terminator 2‘s T-1000 (Sequel villains? Can’t even get the originals. This is tough).
Much of this could probably have been avoided if the statue included a helmet, but it seems to imply Mayfield played a football game without a helmet. Part of the problem appears to be a headband carved into the statue, which unfortunately doesn’t really show up in the photos.
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Oklahoma erects statues for all of its Heisman trophy winners, so Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will be next on the list to have an effigy built. At this point, the best-case scenario for Murray would be a vague resemblance. As long as his statue doesn’t look like he’s eligible for AARP benefits while playing college football, it’ll be a win. Mayfield won football’s most prestigious award in 2017, and Murray followed that up with a back-to-back for Oklahoma in 2018.
Mayfield is currently on the Browns’ roster but is unlikely to remain in the franchise this year. In his three years with the Sooners, he averaged over 4,000 passing yards per season.
