It wasn’t simple being Baker Mayfield at the bottom of his NFL existence, and it wasn’t simple being Emily Mayfield, waiting as a witness. The duo co-interviewed on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, which is one of their most sincere revelations to date regarding how their relationship was affected when Baker hit rock bottom as an expert athlete.

Emily recalled how, during that time, both her husband’s career and their marriage were on the brink. “He was losing himself and I was watching it, you know, front and center,” Emily said.

Emily’s candid admission, “our marriage was failing,” tore the lid off the hidden toll of life in the public eye and the quiet erosion of domestic happiness. She spoke of witnessing the soul of her husband deteriorate, that it was agonizing and a step toward his eventual collapse. “He was losing himself,” she affirmed, words that reflected the helplessness of watching someone you love hit rock bottom.

When Mayfield’s Cleveland stint ended abruptly, and detours of interlude layovers with the Panthers and the Rams followed, the quarterback once hyped for his competitiveness was being cut loose. Emily told them those days made them search for themselves beyond football. In her own words, hitting rock bottom became “the biggest blessing”,  a trial by fire that strengthened their faith and re-grounded them. Now, she reports, their marriage “is the best it’s ever been.”

Emily also praised Baker’s new candor, something he has become adept at in the last couple of years. A cocky figure on the field, Mayfield had to handle the inner, personal demons when the wins did not materialize. Through it all, Emily remained his anchor,  the sole constant while everything else in his life seemed to be adrift. The relationship, which was wrecked, has since then grown stronger through adversity, faith, and honesty.

The turnaround has been incredible.

Mayfield not only re-invented his career in Tampa Bay but re-made himself. No longer wondering where he fit in the game, he has now settled on and off the field after all those years. He threw career-high 28 touchdowns in 2023, led the Buccaneers to an NFC South division title, and even inked a fat three-year deal worth as much as $110 million in 2024. Outside of the gridiron, Mayfields also welcomed their first child the same year, a momentous occasion to mark how far they’ve come.

Earlier this year, Mayfield also opened up on this issue. He mentioned it was just two years into their marriage, and his professional life was getting affected. ”We weren’t doing well at all,” Baker shared. He also added talking about the fake mask we all put on infront of the world, ”As a guy you put on the mask. But behind closed doors, who are you really? What are you hiding? Are you being vulnerable? And until my career got stripped down, I was hiding a lot.”

How Baker Mayfield met his wife

Well before the stardom and front-page headlines, Baker and Emily’s relationship began way back during his college days at Oklahoma, although it did not exactly commence on smooth ground. The two first met while sitting down with ESPN’s Michelle Beisner-Buck for their Monday Night Countdown profile.

Baker claimed he had to work twice as hard simply in order to catch Emily’s eye.

“So, I went to Instagram, hit the follow button. No follow back. Hit the unfollow button, hit the follow again, no follow back.” he laughed. ”Tried to slide into the DMs, no response. At this point, I’m feeling pretty rejected. Finally you gave [our friend] the OK, I could get your number.” In the end, the persistence paid off. Baker and Emily went out for lunch together, and for once, the chemistry was immediate.

Emily told him she was amazed at how genuine Baker was. “The entire time he was asking questions about me, about my family. It was not the Baker show,” she continued. That sincerity meant a great deal.

In the weeks following that initial date, each told their families they’d met “the one.” They got engaged six months later. They were married by July 2019 and have weathered the storms since.

What remains now are two people who chose to fight for each other when it would’ve been easier to walk away. A husband and wife who weathered public defeats, private struggles, and personal transformation, emerging stronger on the other side. Theirs hasn’t been a fairy tale, but it’s been real. And perhaps that authenticity is exactly why their story resonates so deeply with so many.