Were this a normal year, the kids at Baker Mayfield’s holiday gift giveaway would be swarming the Cleveland Browns quarterback, high-fiving him, tugging on his hand and leaning in to share their excitement over something even rarer than a Santa sighting: a playoff berth.
Instead, when Mayfield and wife Emily hosted their annual Passing the Joy event two weeks ago, they stood on one side of glass doors at the building’s entryway while the kids stayed on the other.
“They’d have their Santa hats and signs … and they’d scream through the door,” Mayfield said. “It was adorable but, at the same time, we wanted to be around and give them high fives and talk to them and get to know them.