There are also about 15 or so of Mayfield's teammates, moving through the bar. At one point Mayfield tells me that if he “tried to make everybody happy, that would drive me nuts.” It makes me wonder how that calculus works in the locker room: Does he care if his teammates like him? “I truly care about my teammates,” he offers. “And I know that if they don't care about me, then we're not gonna be worth a damn.”

Still, Mayfield suggests that being respected is more important than being liked. He may not be trying to be everyone's friend, but he is trying to inspire something in them. Mayfield's true magic isn't just that he believes in himself. It's that his confidence vibrates on such a high frequency that it infects those around him. “I've heard it over time,” Mayfield says. “ ‘When he's in there, the offense plays better.’ Or: ‘When he's in there, you can tell the team feeds off his energy.’ To me, that's the sign of leadership or being able to get the best out of your teammates.”

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Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley saw Mayfield lead in this way in Norman. He's not surprised by what's taking place in northern Ohio. “I think people, teammates, even potentially the city of Cleveland, say, ‘Shit, if a guy that's a six-foot guy, that's not very athletic, that wasn't recruited out of college, can win the Heisman, be the number one overall draft pick, do all this stuff, then why can't he help Cleveland win? Why can't he take Cleveland to the Super Bowl? Why can't he do this?’ And then,” Riley says, “maybe even his teammates within that locker room say, ‘Well, if he can do this, why can I not do it, too?’ And there's some of that belief, because his story, honestly, is so improbable. And if you talk to him or watch him, you would think that he's known it's going to happen all along.”

While his teammates mingle around him at the bar, Baker sits near Wilkinson, whom he'll marry in a few weeks. The two connected Mayfield's senior year at Oklahoma, when he tried unsuccessfully to woo her via Instagram. (He sent her DMs, but he also followed and unfollowed her in an attempt to attract her attention.) After some effort, she finally relented, and he invited her to the Rose Bowl to watch him play, gifting her an Oklahoma jersey and a seat next to his parents. Four days later, Mayfield moved in with Wilkinson (and her two brothers). Six months later, he proposed. (Mayfield says the courtship was characterized by him being “stubborn” or a “little persistent.” Wilkinson says, “I think he didn't want to lose.”)

Tonight, Mayfield looks relaxed. Doubt and expectation often weigh the same, and Mayfield's been carrying some combination of both for a long time. He's undeterred by the commotion that swirls around.

Wilkinson has a memory that sticks with her, a moment right after Mayfield's NFL debut in that week-three game against the Jets, just as he was beginning to orient Cleveland in the right direction.

After the game, Wilkinson remembers, she greeted him with excitement—“ ‘Oh, my God! You just won the game! Like, the first game in two years!’ ” She was thrilled. Mayfield, she says, was calm. “ ‘That's why I came here,’ ” she says he told her. “ ‘That's what I'm supposed to do.’ ”

Clay Skipper is a GQ staff writer.

A version of this story originally appeared in the September 2019 issue with the title "Baker Mayfield Is Feeling Dangerous."

Watch:

Baker Mayfield Is as Confident as Ever

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Photographs by Thomas Whiteside

Styled by Jon Tietz

Grooming by Hee Soo Kwon using Malin+Goetz

Produced by Joy Asbury Productions

Location: College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, California