Baker Mayfield Takes a Page Off of Eli Manning’s Playbook to Go Undercover Among Fans

After Tom Brady hung up his cleats, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers found a guy to pin their hopes on: Baker Mayfield. Not only did the quarterback lead the team into the playoffs in his first year with the franchise, but he continues to win over the fans’ hearts time and again.

This time, though, Mayfield has followed in Eli Manning’s footsteps and experimented with a disguise to have some fun with Buccaneers fans. The goal is simple: to keep everyone in the room unaware of his identity.

The quarterback took on the persona of a Buccaneers super fan, Gus Swayze, which fans can witness in Undercover, streaming on Prime Video. Mayfield seemed fully committed to the role, undergoing an extreme makeover that would leave anyone fooled.

Manning starts off the newly released trailer clip by candidly declaring, “If you wanna truly understand someone, you have to walk a mile in the cleats.”

After a series of transformations, Mayfield then appears on the screen as Swayze, looking completely unrecognizable, thanks to fake long hair and makeup. The QB even got a reaction from his girlfriend on FaceTime, who had a one-word reply: “Ew!”

Later, Mayfield was seen mingling with fans, throwing some balls, and didn’t shy away from taking some digs at himself as well.

When one unsuspecting fan remarked, “I heard he’s [Baker Mayfield] gonna get to call some of his plays this year,” the undercover quarterback snarkily replied, “Hope he can handle that.”

The only thing out of place in the prank was Mayfield’s magnificent throws, which had everyone in complete awe.

 

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Manning reposted the trailer on his Instagram story with the caption, “Being Gus Swayze looks good on you (Baker Mayfield).” That said, the former NFL quarterback had taken on a similar challenge back in 2022, eliciting similar reactions from fans.

Fans love Baker Mayfield as Swayze!

Fans loved Mayfield’s eccentric character and had a gala time in the comment section! One fan, for instance, expressed his preference for the ‘superfan’ character over Mayfield himself, writing, “Gus Swayze > your QB”.

Another user joked that the quarterback looked like a “dollar store Jack Sparrow,” referencing Johnny Depp’s character from The Pirates of the Caribbean.

The most interesting comment, however, came from a fan who claimed to have met Gus Swayze in person. He shared the story of how he drank a beer with Mayfield in disguise and saw him throw a beer to his friend sitting 12 rows away. It was moves like these that made him suspicious of “Gus.” He wrote:

“I chugged a beer with this Gus guy in section 306. He launched a beer to my buddy Jeff, who was 2 sections away, and 12 rows up. ‘Gus’ shotgunned his beer then threw another one across his body, into the wind, with a majestic flick of the wrist right to the Mike. I knew this couldn’t be just any fan…… GO BUCS”

As Mayfield’s disguised look does the rounds of the internet, it also brings to mind Manning’s undercover persona, Chad Powers. The former quarterback had makeup and hair done to completely transform himself into the persona of a “college QB,” on a segment for Eli’s Places on ESPN.

Powers, appearing slightly older to pass for a college student, then went on to audition for Penn State. He executed quarterback drills flawlessly, much to the surprise of the coaches, with one assistant becoming quite interested in him!

However, it was the end that left everyone stunned. Peeling off his heavy makeup, Eli revealed himself to the room, leaving everyone either cheering or gasping.

Manning wanted to walk in the shoes of prospective rookies to gain first-hand insight, just like Mayfield is tapping into the mind of the Tampa Bay fan with Gus Swayze. It will certainly be an entertaining watch for any football fans.