Bucs' Baker Mayfield sounds off on college football flag-planting drama: 'Let the boys play'
Baker Mayfield developed a reputation for being a hard-nosed player and a bit of trash-talker when he was slinging the pill at the University of Oklahoma on his way to a Heisman Trophy.
Mayfield may have been the one to start the flag-planting tradition when he took the Soonersβ flag and put it into the ground in the middle of Ohio Stateβs field in 2017 after a win.
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After a swath of fights over players trying to plant flags on their opponentsβ fields, Mayfield defended players for the attempts.
"Iβll say this: OU-Texas does it every time they play," Mayfield said after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers narrowly defeated the Carolina Panthers, 26-23, in overtime on Sunday. "Itβs not anything special. You take your βLβ and you move on. Iβll leave it at that."
Mayfield didnβt seem to agree that flag-planting should be banned either.
"College footballβs meant to have rivalries. Itβs like the Big 12 banning the βHorns downβ signal," he said. "Let the boys play."
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Incidents took place Saturday following Michigan vs. Ohio State, Florida vs. Florida State, North Carolina vs. N.C. State and Arizona vs. Arizona State. Though the Arizona-Arizona State game involved the Sun Devilsβ pitchfork and not a flag.
The Big Ten Conference levied the biggest discipline so far β $100,000 fines each against Michigan and Ohio State.
"The Big Ten Conference has determined that the actions of both teams following the Michigan-Ohio State football game on Saturday, November 30, 2024, violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy," the conference said in a statement.Β "Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders."
"As a result of these violations, the Big Ten Conference has issued an institutional fine to both the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University in the amount of $100,000 each," the statement continued.
"The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Β
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