PASADENA, Calif. — Oklahoma star quarterback Baker Mayfield was walking off the field following the Sooners’ Rose Bowl loss Monday night when the words were shouted in his direction by Georgia linebacker Davin Bellamy.
“Humble yourself!” Bellamy yelled. “Humble yourself!”
More than a few people were around to hear it. Bellamy either didn’t care or fully intended for the message to be heard. If Mayfield heard it or had any reaction, it wasn’t immediately clear.
Bellamy, later asked about the moment in the Georgia locker room, didn’t back down.
“Humble yourself at all times,” Bellamy said. “If you don’t, God will.”
Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner, was complimentary in public of Georgia in the lead-up to the Rose Bowl, but in the past has drawn plenty of criticism for some of his some antics. That includes a gesture he made at an opponent during the Rose Bowl itself. So what did he do to draw Bellamy’s ire?
Bellamy repeated that phrase — “humble yourself” — when asked. The only specific thing Bellamy mentioned was warm-ups, when Mayfield’s pregame routine took him through Georgia’s receivers.
Bellamy wasn’t actually on the field when it happened, but he heard about it.
“I don’t really like to get in it and talk about another opponent. But he got all in our wide receiver drills, pregame while wide receivers were trying to catch he got in their drills,” Bellamy said. “And we’re the wrong team to give fire to.”
Bulldogs receiver Mecole Hardman, however, didn’t appear bothered by Mayfield in pregame warm-ups.
“I don’t know if he does that every game or what. But we weren’t really paying attention,” Hardman said. “He was just trying to get in our head. And we weren’t letting him get in our head.”
It appeared that at least one Georgia receiver shouted something at Mayfield, but Hardman said Mayfield didn’t respond.
“He was just listening to music, chilling,” Hardman said.
Either way, Georgia ended up on the winning end in a thrilling double-overtime game, 54-48, and will now play for a national championship. This after being down by 17 late in the first half, and by seven in the fourth quarter.
“We’re never scared,” Bellamy said. “That’s what we work for. This is why we squat Sundays after the games, for overtime. This team has no fright in it. None”