Baker Mayfield Slams Big 12 for Cracking Down on 'Horns Down' Gesture

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker
Mayfield took a not-so-subtle shot at the Big 12 on Friday after the
conference updated its guidance on taunting, which now includes a
potential penalty for using the “horns down” gesture in the
direction of Texas players.

Mayfield, who starred at Oklahoma
during his college career, made ample use of the “horns
down” symbol while a member of the Sooners and has continued its
use in the NFL.

Big 12 Coordinator of Officials Greg
Burks said Thursday a crackdown on taunting was one of the
conference’s goals for 2021, but he noted a lot of discretion would
remain with the officials to handle on a case-by-case basis.

“Lemme put it this way,”
Burks told reporters. “If you do a ‘horns down’ to a Texas
player as an opponent, that’s probably going to be a foul.”

He added: “Please all of you note,
I said ‘probably.’ We have to consider intent and consider the
situation. We’ll leave it to officials.”

This year’s Red River Rivalry is
scheduled for Oct. 9 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The implementation
of the updated guidelines will surely be watched closely throughout
the contest.

Unfortunately for Mayfield, it’s
unlikely he’ll be able to attend this season’s game between the
Sooners and Longhorns because the Browns have a 1 p.m. local time
kickoff in Los Angeles the next day as they face off with the
Chargers in a key AFC matchup.

The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner will
probably be active on social media, however, especially if OU picks
up its fourth straight victory over UT.