Big J Journalists Are Attacking One Another Over Baker Mayfield's Browns Quote

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Baker Mayfield used the f-word while describing what he plans to do to the Cleveland Browns, his former team, in Week 1 of the NFL season. As a result, journalists are attacking one another because Mayfield's quote was simply shared on a podcast.

NFL Network's Cynthia Frelund joined the 'Around The NFL' podcast and explained that she spoke to Mayfield following the Carolina Panthers preseason finale.

Frelund said she wished Mayfield luck by telling him to "go kick some butt" in Carolina's season opener against Cleveland. Mayfield responded by saying "I'm gonna f--k them up," which now has one journalist in particular fired up about the whole situation.

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Jason Lloyd, who covers Cleveland sports for The Athletic, is upset that Frelund told the story about Mayfield on the podcast. He thinks the whole thing was "terrible" and that Frelund should be punished.

Let me take the time to remind Lloyd, and everyone else, that we live in the year 2022. It's difficult to create headline stories, especially ones that live in today's media world longer than 12 seconds with people's shrinking attention spans and rapidly moving timelines on social media.

Frelund talked about an interaction she had with one of the most polarizing quarterbacks in the NFL. She's a member of the media and understands how the game works. She was able to create a national story involving Mayfield.

It's not as if Mayfield said, 'Hey, this is off the record, I'm gonna f--k them up' and Frelund immediately jumped on Twitter to share the quote. She mentioned it on a podcast where she and the co-hosts were having a lighthearted conversation.

Frelund shouldn't have felt the need to walk back her story. An NFL player made a strong comment about playing against his former team, that's a story 10 times out of 10.

Being in the media and complaining about someone else sharing a noteworthy story or quote is a strange move. Complaining about other media members or NFL fans blowing it out of proportion is a completely different situation.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.