Baker Mayfield heckles former Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship over Rose Bowl

It seems Baker Mayfield can’t let go of a bitter memory, even when it involves a new teammate. And even if said memory happened in college.

Obviously, the kick in the gut of blowing a 17-point lead to the Georgia Bulldogs and losing in double overtime still lingers, especially if you’re the Oklahoma quarterback.

We’re assuming Mayfield was teasing, Tuesday, as minicamp opened in Tampa. The Bucs welcomed new kicker Rodrigo Blankenship. Mayfield trotted past, but extended his hand to tell Blankenship hello.

“I still don’t like you,” Baker Mayfield told the kicker.

Rodrigo Blankenship with a warm welcome on his first day with the Bucs. Baker Mayfield says, "I still don't like you."

Blankenship's Georgia Bulldogs beat Baker Mayfield's Oklahoma Sooners in the 2018 Rose Bowl CFP Semifinal. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/i3oeVyKM8H

— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) June 13, 2023

So what did Blankenship do to Baker Mayfield? Let’s kick it back to the 2018 Rose Bowl, which served as a semifinal for the College Football Playoffs. Mayfield, who’d won the Heisman the month before, led second-seeded OU into the game. And the Georgia defense, initially, had no answer for the Sooners’ high octane offense.

Mayfield even caught a touchdown pass from receiver CeeDee Lamb at the end of the first half to give the Sooners a 17-point lead. But the advantage evaporated as the Bulldogs began pounding the ball with Sony Michel and Nick Chubb.

Blankenship kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first overtime. He didn’t need to kick the extra point after Michel scored the winning touchdown in the second OT for the 54-38 victory. Georgia went on to lose to Alabama in the national title game. (That game gave birth to the legend of Tua Tagovailoa, but that’s for another story.) And the Rose Bowl closed out Baker Mayfield’s college football career.

Baker Mayfield is trying to revive his NFL career in Florida after three other stops in the NFL. The Bucs need to replace Tom Brady, who retired on Feb. 1. Truthfully, no quarterback will replace Brady. But Tampa needs someone under center.

The Bucs signed Mayfield to compete with former Florida star Kyle Trask, Tampa’s second-round pick in 2021. Trask has very little experience being that he was Brady’s backup for two seasons. He’s played in one game and has attempted nine passes, completing three of them.

Meanwhile, Mayfield, the top pick of the 2018 draft, has all sorts of experience, good and bad. Tampa hasn’t named a starter between Mayfield and Trask. But word is that Mayfield is the leader for QB1, whether he likes the new kicker or not.