Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield wins referee criticism appeal

After a close Week 6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks which saw quite a few officiating gaffes, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield called out the game’s referees. The NFL is siding with him on this incident.

NFL officiating has come under scrutiny from just about every one of the 32 teams this season. For the Cleveland Browns, their breaking point came in Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks, when second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield decided that he’d had enough of the referees’ questionable decisions.

Mayfield called out the refs in his press conference after a heartbreaking 32-28 loss to the Seahawks. In his postgame plea, Mayfield stated, “I’ll probably get fined for this, but they were pretty bad today.” At first, Mayfield was right, as he was hit with a $12, 500 fine following the game.

However, the NFL sided with the young Browns quarterback after his appeal process. First reported by ESPN’s Jake Trotter on Twitter, Mayfield won his appeal case.

Winning on the grounds that his comments “were not strong enough to warrant a fine” is certainly an interesting way to take back a fine, but Mayfield’s comments declined to name a specific incident in the first place.

In terms of appeal processes, this is one down, and two to go for the Browns this week. Defensive end Myles Garrett will appeal his indefinite suspension on Wednesday, and Larry Ogunjobi will appeal his one-game suspension this week as well. Mayfield may be a good omen.

Or, perhaps, the NFL is starting to realize that sometimes, their referees make mistakes just like the rest of us. Outcry from the fans and sports reporting talking heads proves this to be true, and maybe this is a sign of things to come.