This off-season has been pretty eventful for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans. In June, quarterback Baker Mayfield was confirmed as one of four featured passers in the third season of Quarterback, which was streamed on Netflix. Weeks after the show premiered on July 14, Mayfield broke his silence on how being under constant spotlight was not something his family was used to. 

“You know, it really wasn’t bad,” said Mayfield during the August 31 episode of the Green Light Podcast. “Like as you know, there’s cameras, there’s somebody mic’d up on game days always. So to be mic’d up on game days that like that part wasn’t bad at all. It really was more so, I think it was harder on like Emily and my friends that would be in from out of town. 

“They would have the cameras up in the suit. Cuz I’m just used to cameras being around and all that. I think it’s more so for the people that aren’t used to that that it’s harder on them.”

Emily is an internet influencer and digital creator, with 241k followers on Instagram. Mayfield’s wife never misses a chance to post about her personal life, hanging out with her husband, and posting cute photographs of their two children. Yet then, she chooses what to post and is not under constant camera surveillance. 

Unfortunately, the Netflix series did not give much privacy during the shooting. In this season, there were seven episodes. As with previous installments, the season was filmed by NFL Films, Omaha Productions, and 2PM Productions using an intricate, all-access approach. 

The co-producers placed dedicated camera and audio teams to document the athletes’ professional routines as well as their lives away from the field, including private family moments. The past season, the limelight was on Mayfield. 

He emerged as an early MVP candidate after leading Tampa Bay to a 6-2 record, including a Week 5 win over the eventual Super Bowl LX champion Seahawks. But the season took a turn following a three-game losing streak and Mayfield’s Week 12 shoulder sprain. The Bucs then lost four of their final five games to finish 8-9 and miss the postseason for the first time since 2020.

Being the hero of an important storyline, the series ensured there were moments off the gridiron, too. Viewers got an intimate look at his life at his waterfront Tampa home, including time with his young daughter and his wife, Emily, whose pregnancy is revealed early in the series. The couple welcomed their baby boy, Maverick Thorne Mayfield, on April 16. 

“This will be an inside look at the good, the bad, the ugly, just really the endurance of a season,” Mayfield shared about the series in an interview in July. “The physical toll, the mental toll of it, how long it is, how many people it really takes. You see the game on Sundays, but just the preparation, the people that help you get there and just that process and how important some of the things are to you throughout the year, whether it’s going good or bad.”

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels also opened up about stepping outside his comfort zone as he was also featured in Quarterback Season 3. 

“I’m super private, so I don’t really like a lot of people know what I got going on,” Daniels told Tudum about joining the series. “I kind of just move how I move, but I thought it was good to be able to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and show fans a different perspective into my life and a little bit of what I deal with on a daily basis.”

Mayfield, however, appeared comfortable embracing the cameras once filming began.