Baker Mayfield is a Big Angry Baby, the Sports Media are Big Angry Babies, and I Think the Browns Killed Deadspin

It’s our fault for thinking the Browns were going to be good, honestly.

I mean, everyone loves an underdog, and who’s more of an underdog than the Browns? That are few teams in sports that are so actively and endlessly bad that you want to see them succeed in spite of themselves, and the Cleveland Browns are that team, especially given that the Raiders have managed to overcome general fan support for other fanbases and become raging dickheads we can all hate again.

But the Browns are still the Browns, and the Browns blow ass. They’re 2-5. They’re on a 3 game skid. Odell Beckham Jr has been useless and is almost making the New York Giants look like geniuses for not keeping him around. In short, shit is fucked. A post about them may or may not have lead to the death of your favorite sports blog.

It’s easy to understand why Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield might be a bit bothered by all this. It’s also understandable why he’d be reluctant to deal with Cleveland beat writer Tony Grossi, who has more or less antagonized Baker Mayfield since the moment he was connected with the Browns. Mayfield was answering a question about a drive that stalled versus the Patriots from Grossi, when Grossi interjected with “but”.

“Stop saying but,” Baker said, according to Pro Football Talk. “I just told you the clock was running and we had a penalty. You want to give them the ball back? No. You don’t play, you don’t know. That’s just plain and simple.””

“Were you happy with the drive?” Grossi asked.

It was at this point Baker called Grossi’s question “the dumbest one you could ask”, and then stormed off his media availability.

Baker Mayfield is a dick. I think if you asked, he’d probably tell you he’s a dick. Every successful quarterback is a dick to some extent. Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time, and his dickishness is unmatched. So yeah, Baker was a big whiny baby for not just answering Grossi’ incredibly stupid question that was designed to get him to act like a big whiny baby.

Grossi, playing the victim of a heinous crime because a quarterback didn’t want to answer his question, claimed that he didn’t want to become part of the story, while going on the radio to talk about the story he is a part. Grossi is also a big baby, as is anyone who’s upset that Mayfield, a 21-year-old in the middle of a losing season, finally lost his temper.

All the claims that Baker must “grow up” or “mature” are at once valid and the kind of reactionary that provides a reason aboutwhy you need sports coverage without the stupid air of “BUT YOU MUST RESPECT THE ASSHOLE ASKING YOU A QUESTION HE HAS ASKED TO PROD YOU IN THE FUCKING RIBS”. At least if someone if someone lame wad blogger was asking that question, you know he’d be digging for dirt.

Grossi isn’t blameless, nor did he wish to avoid being part of the story. He and Baker don’t get along, and like so many sports writers, rather than earning trust by, you know, not being a jerk, Grossi expects Baker to treat him with a level of respect whilst still being a dick. Beat writers in general get a bad rap and are often treated like dog shit by teams and players alike, but there are certain ones to whom acting like they’re above players and beyond reproach comes too naturally.

Likewise, there’s a class of “analysts” who’s only real job is to shit on players, which is ironic, given that most of them are former players, and most of them had to deal with this same shit on the daily. Mayfield was being a big baby, but everyone else is just as immature and lunk-headed as he is. The only difference is that as a player, he’s expected to be a doting robot who answers question X with all the passion of Eli Manning. Emotion is frowned on in players, which ironic when the same players are constantly criticized for not caring enough.

So, to recap; Baker Mayfield is a baby, Tony Grossi is a baby, professional shouters like Damien Woody are all babies, and the Browns, on top of being terrible, probably killed Deadspin. Just another day in Cleveland.