Baker Mayfield calls Horns Down rule ‘soft’

Baker Mayfield does not think highly of a Big 12 rule regarding the “Horns Down” gesture.

Last year, Big 12 player David Sills was penalized for doing a Horns Down gesture while playing Texas in a game. The league this year said players could face unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for doing the anti-Texas gesture, though it depends on the circumstance.

“I think it’s very soft they’re implementing a rule about it. It shows the sensitivity of today’s day and age,” Mayfield said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast with Barstool Sports.

He’s right. Simply doing Horns Down after a touchdown should not result in a penalty the way it did for Sills. The new rule suggests there will be a penalty for a player flashing it at an opponent or an opposing team’s bench.

Trash talk is part of the game, and doing Horns Down at Texas while playing them is a way of trash-talking them. Mayfield, who starred at Texas’ rival, Oklahoma, has been a Longhorns antagonist for a while, so it’s no surprise he’s not a fan of the rule.