Ed Puskas: Problem with NFL staring us in the face

This isn’t your father’s NFL, my father’s NFL or even my NFL.

If Joe “Turkey” Jones planted Terry Bradshaw into the turf in 2018 instead of in 1976 — Google it, kids — the former Cleveland Browns defensive end would be suspended and some would want him banned.

In today’s NFL, if a defensive player doesn’t take a quarterback to the ground with the utmost care, the field is instantly littered with penalty flags. Just ask Clay Matthews III.

It’s not even just the physical stuff that is now frowned upon.

The talk of the NFL after the Browns beat the Bengals on Sunday was rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield staring down Cincinnati assistant Hue Jackson after a game-clinching pass.

Mayfield didn’t give Jackson a one-fingered salute. He didn’t grab his crotch and he didn’t plant a Browns flag in front of the Bengals’ bench.

Mayfield simply stared in Jackson’s direction. And stared. And stared. And stared some more.

Mayfield held his gaze on Jackson long enough for CBS cameras to catch the moment. And once TV cameras capture something like that, it’s bound to become a social-media meme in a matter of moments.

Just ask Crying Jordan and Head-in-His-Hands Michigan Guy.

By the time Mayfield got to the Browns interview room, his “How you like me now?” staredown was either being celebrated or criticized far beyond FirstEnergy Stadium and even northeastern Ohio.

It had already, as they say, gone viral.

Mayfield, who may not quite yet own Cleveland but has made a hefty downpayment, played dumb.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” he said.

Few Browns fans had a problem with Mayfield’s reaction. He’s a 23-year-old rookie who has always been an emotional guy. His heart is on his sleeve right there with the brown and orange stripes. To most fans, it was another in a series of “he gets us” moments from Mayfield in a rookie season few saw coming.

Jackson, fired as the Browns head coach after a 2-6-1 start this season, obviously didn’t see it coming. In addition to being unwilling to get the rookie from Oklahoma on the field until an injury to Tyrod Taylor forced the issue, Jackson also used part of his post-firing media tour to trash Mayfield and the Browns before taking a job with the Bengals.

Mayfield clearly has an issue with Jackson.

But some people have come out swinging against the rookie, calling him immature for showing up Jackson. Mostly, they’re the same national media types who have had Hue’s back despite a record of 3-36-1 with the Browns, including 0-16 in 2017.

Jackson jumped into Lake Erie as promised in June, but he never owned his record in Cleveland. The losing and firing were everyone else’s fault. Even now, Jackson still doesn’t have to own it, thanks to his media pals.

Instead, Mayfield — the most exciting thing to happen to Browns football in a generation — is bashed for hurting a 53-year-old man’s feelings.

Some days, I wonder what my father would think of today’s NFL.

Not much, I’d guess.

But I think he’d like this Mayfield kid.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.