It's certainly been a memorable week for Baker Mayfield.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback began it with the best performance of his rookie season in a 28-16 win over the favored Atlanta Falcons, then followed up by perhaps giving his new community an even bigger victory.
Hope is certainly blossoming anew in Northeast Ohio, where Mayfield has led the Browns to their most victories (3) since 2015 with six games still to go as the club enters its bye week after snapping a four-game skid.
"Absolutely," Mayfield told USA TODAY Sports when asked if he and his talented young teammates were taking ownership of a franchise mired in the league's longest playoff drought (16 years).
"That's the positive thing about it — we're just getting started."
Mayfield threw a season-high three touchdown passes against Atlanta while posting a personal best passer rating of 151.2 after completing 17 of 20 passes for 216 yards.
His exuberance was captured by NFL Films. He seemed most excited about handing off to fellow rookie Nick Chubb, whose franchise-record 92-yard touchdown run put the Falcons on ice.
"Looking forward," Mayfield said, "I think it's gonna be a bright future. Just gotta be able to have that mentality to never get too down on things but always gotta work."
Despite his somewhat checkered reputation coming out of Oklahoma, the cameras also captured Mayfield's selfless spirit Sunday, when he chased down Atlanta's Vic Beasley between plays to return the mouthpiece the pass rusher had lost on the field.
Yet the quarterback's generosity was expressed in far greater terms this week when he launched a partnership with Barstool Sports to sell Mayfield paraphernalia — notably T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring outlines of his signature five o'clock shadow, eye black and bandana — with 100 percent of the proceeds ticketed for the Special Olympics in the greater Cleveland area.
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