Bucs’ Baker Mayfield Gives Back With Inaugural Charity Event

After securing the Bucs’ starting quarterback job, Baker Mayfield set his sights on giving back to the community he’ll be playing for this season. Mayfield and his wife Emily quickly got to work with their foundation to host the inaugural BE The Ball charity event. 

On Sunday the Mayfield’s gathered fans at TopGolf for a day of golfing and giving with all proceeds benefiting early childhood literacy and “leveling the playing field” for youth aided by the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County. 

“We’re both super passionate about working with youth,” Emily Mayfield said. “We both grew up in very blessed households. It depends on kind of the market we’re in, but something consistent with every city we’ve been in is there’s always a need to help the youth. 

“Here, specifically in Hillsborough County, it’s one of the biggest school districts in the U.S. So there’s a massive, massive need for it – to level the playing field in terms of getting pre-K kids literacy ready so they can go to kindergarten with confidence and the readiness. The coalition serves like 30,000 kids and that tells you how many are in need.”

Baker Mayfield Already Serving The Tampa Bay Community

Baker Mayfield has shown his support for a number of his teammates this offseason attending their charitable causes, and on Sunday they returned the favor. Mayfield was joined by Kyle Trask, Mike Evans, Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke, Jamel Dean, Vita Vea, Ryan Jensen and Patrick O’Conner at TopGolf for his initial charity event in Tampa.

In addition, quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis and wide receivers coach Brad Idzik were also in attendance, as well as Hall of Fame cornerback Ronde Barber. Even Captain Fear, the Bucs mascot, made an appearance.

Wirfs and Goedke spent training camp living with Mayfield at the team hotel and were more than happy to support their starting quarterbacks foundation. 

“Their foundation is incredible,” Wirfs said. “Just being able to be out here and be with all these people and support them is great.”

“It’s great to be here to support their foundation,” Goedeke said. “I know they’re trying to help out the youth and the education system and that’s a huge deal in today’s society. Making sure kids get the right education, the proper education. I’m all for it, and it was a great event to be a part of.” 

While the Mayfields have bounced around a bit in the past year, giving back to the city they are in is important for the quarterback and his wife. There is more to life than the game of football they get paid to play and Mayfield understands the importance of utilizing the platform he has to raise awareness for under served causes. 

“We always try to embrace the city we’re in,” Mayfield said. “But to have that given back to us, you can’t really put it into words. But we’re really lucky to have that. The game of football, we’re blessed to be able to call it our job but there’s so much more to life than just football. I think you see just organization-wise, how (the Bucs) run things just how well from the top down. The culture here is a great culture.”

Baker Mayfield Wants To Remain In Tampa Long-Term

Baker Mayfield would love to plants his roots somewhere and realizes the opportunity he has in front of him in Tampa Bay. He hasn’t set any personal goals for himself, rather his focus is on winning and letting everything else fall into place from there. 

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Firstly, I’m all about winning,” Mayfield said. “Win as many games as possible. Obviously, the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl, but you’ve got to start by winning your division first.

“Everybody is writing off the NFC South, but I think it’s going to be a lot better than people think. A lot of new faces in the division, so we’re ready to compete in that division and win it again. Obviously, we’d love to be here long-term and the way to do that is to win a lot of ball games.”

The BE The Ball event raised more than $85,000 on Sunday. The Mayfields also pledged an additional $25,000 to the cause bringing the grand total upwards of $115,000. Those funds will go a long way towards helping children and families with the supplies they need.

“Your generosity and support will play a pivotal role in helping us impact the future success of Tampa Bay youth,” Mayfield said. “Access to early childhood education is a game changer for at-risk youth, and we want to help change that game.”