Former roommates and back-to-back Heisman winners trade barbs and brotherhood as two generations of Oklahoma excellence collide in a high-stakes showdown between the Buccaneers and Vikings
Oklahoma fans do not get many weekends like this one.
First comes the stress of an SEC opener in Athens against Georgia on Saturday. Then, before the blood pressure can fully settle, two former Sooner Heisman winners meet on Sunday when Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host Kyler Murray and the Minnesota Vikings at 3:05 p.m. CT.
That is a rare kind of doubleheader.
One day is about the current roster trying to prove it belongs with the best of the league. The next is about two of the program’s modern quarterback standard-bearers facing each other as finished products in the NFL.
Mayfield is in his fourth season with the Buccaneers. Murray is in his first with the Vikings. The logos have changed. The connection has not.
Their Oklahoma history is still the best way to understand the relationship. After Murray transferred from Texas A&M in 2016, he spent two years in the same quarterback room as Mayfield and even lived with him as a roommate. Murray backed up Mayfield, then inherited the job when Baker moved on, and somehow their careers kept rhyming.
Mayfield won the Heisman and went No. 1 overall to Cleveland in 2018. Murray won the Heisman the next year and went No. 1 overall in 2019. Different personalities, same trajectory. Mayfield has always been louder and more confrontational. Murray is quieter and more reserved.
That contrast never got in the way of the respect.
If anything, it seems to have strengthened it.
They still talk trash, still show up in commercials together, and still push back when the outside world gets too comfortable criticizing the other. This week was no different.
Mayfield made the first wave of comments Thursday when the subject of Murray’s public reputation came up.
“Obviously, he’s got a reputation on the outside,” Mayfield said. “Listen, I understand when people don’t like him. But don’t get me wrong, I’d say the same thing about myself.”
Mayfield did not dodge the premise. He just refused to leave his guy out there alone. He went on to say they remain close and that once people actually get to know Murray, they “really appreciate the worker that he is.”
Mayfield has never been interested in soft praise. If he is selling Murray’s work ethic, he means it.
Murray’s response had the same mix of loyalty and edge.
“That’s my guy,” Murray said. “I got to see him every day in college. So, I respect the hell out of Baker and what he’s been through and what type of player he is and person he is.”
He had clearly seen the clip too. “They showed me the comment that he said about why people don’t like me or whatever, but I said I’d say the same (expletive) about him,” Murray quipped.
“I think we’re both competitors and we’re going to do anything to win. So sometimes that might rub people the wrong way. But he’s a great dude, and a fierce competitor. You go to war with a guy like that every single day. So nothing but respect for him.”
The two of them understand the public version of each other because they lived the private one first. College teammates can stay friendly. These two still sound like people who would trust each other in a foxhole.
The on-field setup for Sunday is a little uneven, which only makes the matchup more interesting. Mayfield’s Buccaneers are 0-2, and the start has been rocky. Through two games he has 398 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception while taking seven sacks. The protection has not helped, and the offense has not found much rhythm. For a quarterback as competitive as Mayfield, an 0-2 hole in September is already too loud.
Murray’s Vikings are 2-0, but his own statistical footprint is tiny so far. He has played only one game after exiting the season opener with a concussion and returning ahead of Week 3. In that appearance he completed 3 of 5 passes for 18 yards, threw one interception, and added two carries for nine yards.
So the narrative is strange.
Tampa is winless with the more established recent starter. Minnesota is unbeaten with a quarterback still easing back into full rhythm.
Sooner fans will not care much about the neatness of the storyline. They will care that two guys who defined the program’s last great quarterback era are on opposite sidelines in a regular-season NFL game.
Mayfield brought swagger, toughness, and a permanent chip on his shoulder to Norman. Murray brought rareness, explosiveness, and the sense that one broken play could become a touchdown before the defense finished diagnosing it. Together they made the Heisman look like a Sooner inheritance instead of a long shot.
Murray holds a 2-0 regular-season head-to-head record against Baker Mayfield in the NFL. The two have faced off twice before, when Mayfield was with the Cleveland Browns and Murray was with the Arizona Cardinals. In their most recent meeting, Murray's Cardinals defeated Mayfield's Browns 37–14 on October 17, 2021.
Sunday will not settle any college argument. It does not need to. It is simply a reminder of how good that stretch was and how closely those two careers remained tied even after they left campus. One day after Oklahoma plays for its present in Athens, the fan base gets to watch two of its biggest modern stars share the same field again.
For once, the weekend does not end when the college clocks hit zero. Baker and Kyler still have something to say on Sunday.
