TAMPA, Florida – Every Sunday, Baker Mayfield is in the spotlight.

But this season he got two new ones that changed everything. The moment his daughter Kova Jade was born, his whole view of football changed.

“It’s even more important now because there are stories being written about it that she can look back on and read later, which is really special,” Mayfield said. “But right now it’s about winning and doing my job at the highest level.”

His job this season is to lead the Bucs back to the playoffs for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, and given what he did last year, that seems inevitable.

Mayfield is coming off a season in which he put up outstanding numbers in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage. He was on his fourth team in 18 months. Looking for stability, he found it in Tampa Bay, and the Bucs found their leader.

“We’re a tough team that’s going to play extremely hard and fast, and offensively we want to be very physical,” Mayfield said. “It feels good to know that and try to accomplish that.”

Mayfield also wants to be successful in the community, so he and his wife Emily went all out as soon as they arrived in Tampa Bay. They got involved in various charities. Mayfield is someone who doesn’t do anything superficial – he is very intentional about everything he does.

“This is not a show. We really care about this town,” he said. “We live here. Our daughter, our first child, was born here. So it means a lot to us and we want to give back to the town. It has given us so much, so we have to help too.”

Mayfield finally felt at home with the Bucs. They rewarded him with a long-term contract in March. One month later, his daughter was born.

“It’s great to look out on the sidelines and see how serious this is while we’re in the middle of playing a game – that you can stop and take a second for yourself, take a deep breath and enjoy your family time before you get back to focusing,” Mayfield said. “So yeah, it’s great.”