Former Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield explains why he's glad he didn't play college football during the NIL era

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield is one of the last quarterbacks to have a mostly "traditional" college experience.

Mayfield, who is currently the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, started his college career at Texas Tech before transferring to Oklahoma as a walk-on.

Because it was during the pre-NCAA transfer portal era, Mayfield was forced to sit out the 2014 season. (Can you imagine a player sitting out in 2024 for an entire season?!?!?!)

Mayfield won the starting quarterback job in 2015 and quickly became a national sensation after leading Oklahoma to a come-from-behind win on the road against the Tennessee Vols.

(I had one of the best views in the stadium of Mayfield's game-winning touchdown run that night.)

Mayfield ended up being one the most famous college quarterbacks on the planet during his time at Oklahoma, thanks to his brash personality, his celebrations that came close to going over the line, and his incredible competitiveness.

If Mayfield had played during the NIL era, he would've easily been pulling in seven-figure NIL deals.

Mayfield, however, said during a recent appearance on Casa De Klub that he's glad he didn't play during the NIL era.

"I don't even want to know," said Mayfield when asked what kind of money he thinks he could've earned. "Because some of the dumb s--t I did, there would've been so many t-shirts sold. Between probably my mug shot, if I would've gotten a copyright on that. Grabbing my crotch against Kansas. There's just a lot of stuff. The flag plant. I mean, it would've grown. The price tag probably would've been high, but it would've grown.

"I feel like I still got to enjoy real college football. I'm happy I didn't play in the NIL days."

Mayfield, by the way, also said he didn't receive impermissible benefits during his time at Oklahoma, though he mentioned he had offers to sign autographs for cash (Mayfield said he turned down those requests because he didn't want to risk anything).

I certainly get where Mayfield is coming from. That era of college football, which is now gone forever, was just...different. That's not to say it's better or worse now (players deserve to earn cash from their name, image, and likeness), it was just a different era of college football that was less-business like. In a way, it was simpler. But hey, those days are gone so there's no sense in being a curmudgeon and wishing things would go back to the way they were. You might as well embrace the new era if you're a college football fan who wants to enjoy the sport. (And isn't enjoying the sport what fandom is all about?)

Related: Brent Venables' comments about Josh Heupel will give Oklahoma fans and Tennessee fans chills