It has been quite a ride for Baker Mayfield. He went from first overall draft pick of the Cleveland Browns to demanding a trade from the Browns when they pursued DeShaun Watson to being waived by the Carolina Panthers when he struggled after the trade to being claimed by the Los Angeles Rams to signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to the 2023 season.
The Bucs won five of their last six games to win the 2023 NFC South and then routed the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the NFL Playoffs. Throughout all the ups and downs, let’s get to know the one person that provides the stability in Mayfield’s life, Mayfield’s wife Emily Wilkinson.
Emily Wilkinson was born in Omaha, Neb. Before she met Baker, she attended the University of Nebraska in 2013 and then went to California.
Baker and Emily have been a couple for a few years now. The two first met when Mayfield was still slinging spirals in Norman for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2017. Emily was not too interested at first in Mayfield, as she had some reservations about getting into a relationship with an athlete, according to a 2019 feature on the quarterback by
“The quarterback and his fiancée, who is from Nebraska, were introduced in 2017 by a mutual friend. At the time, Wilkinson was living in Los Angeles. She says she was wary of dating a “punk football player” and ignored Mayfield’s advances for months: He repeatedly followed and unfollowed her on Instagram, trying to attract her attention. Finally, in late December, they exchanged messages. He begged her to meet him before the Rose Bowl, his final college football game. She reluctantly agreed to grab lunch.”
Baker Mayfield’s courtship with Emily Wilkinson
Mayfield’s persistence eventually paid off, as it did not take long before he got the girl he had been eyeing. He was able to show Emily that he can forget about football and make her the focus of his attention, something that a lot of men out there struggle to do. Here’s more from Wilkinson from Kimes’ story.
“I was assuming he’d be the typical playboy athlete,” says Wilkinson, who is four years older than Mayfield. Because the Rose Bowl was the next day, she thought they’d spend most of their date talking about the game. But it barely came up. Instead, she says, Mayfield spent their entire first date peppering her with questions about herself, her family, her plans for the future. The next day, after Oklahoma lost, ending its season, the quarterback texted Wilkinson and told her he was staying in L.A. Three days later, he moved in with her and her brothers. Six months later, Emily and Baker were engaged.
Mayfield and the Sooners indeed lost the 2017 Rose Bowl to Jake Fromm and the Georgia Bulldogs, eliminating Oklahoma from contention for the National Championship. Mayfield finished that game with 287 passing yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 23-of-35 passing.
Emily Wilkinson moves to Cleveland for Baker Mayfield
When Baker Mayfield turned pro in 2018 after the Browns selected him first overall in that year’s NFL Draft, Wilkinson decided that she’s coming with him to Cleveland. That decision also meant that she had to quit her job in Beverly Hills.
“I’m excited to say I’m only leaving Galanis Plastic Surgery because I’ll be starting a new adventure with this guy in Cleveland,” Emily said. She called the move “bittersweet” and said the surgery center has been her “favorite job ever.”
