WWE Hall of Fame broadcast, and famous Oklahoma fan, Jim Ross has heard every “character” criticism of Baker Mayfield.

Simply put, Ross will not have it. A mainstay with his signature cowboy hat on the Sooners’ sidelines, Ross sees a different side of Mayfield. He described as much May 2 on The Jim Ross Report.

Ross suffered a tremendous tragedy early in 2017 with his wife, Jan, died when a car hit her Vespa motorcycle. Ross received a massive outpouring of support from his friends, fans and family after the accident, but Mayfield’s message still touches him more than a year later.

“When my wife got killed last year, during the summer when coach (Lincoln) Riley got named the head coach at OU, ESPN called me to come to the stadium and do an interview. While I was there waiting my turn to record the interview about coach Riley’s ascension and coach (Bob) Stoops retiring, Baker was there. He came up to me and he had tears in his eyes. I thought something was wrong, something occurred to him. He saw to me and he got tears in his eyes because he knew what I was going through with losing my wife. He gave me a big hug. He said, ‘JR, I just want you to know I love you and I’ll always have your back.’ Even today when I think about it, my eyes get teary. Fast forward to the fall. I was at every OU game,. I always stood down by the end zone and watched the guys warm up early, early. Baker puts on an Odell Beckham Jr. display catching the ball, it’s amazing. Every game, he came over to me and gave me a big hug. He’d say, ‘JR, I love you. Remember, I’ll always have your back.’ ... If I had a son, I’d want him to be like Baker Mayfield. I swear to God.”

On his podcast, Ross awarded Mayfield with his “Slobberknocker of the Week” award -- for defying the odds as a former walk-on that went No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Mayfield No. 1 overall in last week’s NFL Draft. He became the first Sooner to do so since the Rams drafted Sam Bradford in 2010.

“For me, it is a fresh start,” Mayfield said after his first rookie minicamp workout. “Once you are drafted, it does not matter. I will just say this, in the team meeting, we talked about how it does not matter how you get here; everybody has the same opportunity. What are you going to do with it? What work are you going to put in to put yourself in the best position possible to play and make the roster? For me, that is something that I know how to do. I have been in this position before so I can only try to handle it the same and work harder.”