Baker Mayfield swears he was honoring Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito when he busted out the quarterback’s signature hand gesture after scoring a rushing touchdown just before halftime in the Buccaneers’ rout of the Giants.
“It was a tribute. A tribute to Tommy,” Mayfield told reporters, according to ESPN.
“Most of the time, I don’t know what I’m going to do so … spontaneous stuff,” Mayfield later said. “New York fans love Tommy here, so give ’em something they like.”
After expressing his admiration for the young Giants QB, Mayfield was asked if he happened to be of Italian descent.
Somewhat deadpanned, the Buccaneers quarterback was quick to respond.
“I haven’t done a 23andMe, but I don’t know,” he said.
Mayfield rushed the ball up the middle on the Giants’ 10-yard line with 20 seconds left in the first half and hurdled Giants cornerback Cor’Dale Flott.
When he bounced back up, he began doing the hand gesture as he celebrated in the end zone.
Mayfield finished the game with one rushing touchdown while throwing 294 yards on 24 completed passes.
The Bucs handed the Giants another ugly loss as their season continues to circle the drain.
DeVito completed 21 of 31 pass attempts for 189 yards, and he was sacked four times.
The young QB had a rough first half, going 3-for-5 for 31 yards.
“It was tough in the first half,’’ DeVito said. “Just figuring out what they were doing, just know it sounds cliché, but just coming down to execution. We started to get going, but it was too late.’’
Both teams had been coming off a bye week, and the Bucs had dropped four straight prior to that.
The loss was the Giants’ ninth of the season, and they have dropped six consecutive games.