Mayfield surprises cancer patient
Former OU star helps lifelong fan watch Browns end playoff drought
When lifelong Browns fan Tom Seip el posted on the Browns' subReddit two weeks ago, he did so with the intention of leaving a farewell to his fellow fans.
Seipel, a Columbus, Ohio, native and Ohio State graduate who now lives in Savannah, Georgia, has been battling kidney cancer since his initial diagnosis in November of 2017, when he was working as missionary in Nicaragua.
Now living a this parents' house with hi s wife, Margarita, and daughter, Mia, he's receiving hospice care.
“I don't even know why I made the post to begin with when I look back,” he said in a phone interview on Monday.
“I wanted to say thank you to the great fans. That forum has been such an informative part of my life when it comes to sports that I kind of wanted to say thanks, but at the same time I just got put into hospice. I was bummed out, so I'm sure a part of it was just wanting to hear someone say, `Get well buddy.'
“I never thought this would turn into anything.”
But the post set off a chain reaction in the community. It eventually caught the attention of Emily Mayfield, the wife of Browns quarterback and former OU star Baker Mayfield. The latter later sent Seipel an encouraging video message.
Seipel thought the Browns starter reaching out would be his peak as a fan, but he had no idea that two games later he would be invited to Emily Mayfield's suite at FirstEnergy Stadium to witness the Browns end their 18- year playoff drought in person with a 24-22 win over the Steelers.
“By far it' s the best memory,” Seipel said. “You can't even ask that question. By far. This weekend blew everything out of the water, it was insane. It's been too good to believe, it's been amazing.”
The chain reaction began when Seipel's initial post on Reddit caught the attention of Rawley Davis, one of the cohosts of the Dawgs of War podcast.
It was Davis who initially got an email through to Emily Mayfield, prompting the video from Baker Mayfield.
“Was just reading up on your story,” the Browns quarterback said in part in the video that Seipel later posted on Instagram. “You're extremely inspirational, man, you're a warrior. Just want to say, keep fighting. Appreciate your support and we'll see what happens when we get into the playoffs, we'll see if we make those dreams come true, bud.”
Davis also told Seipel's story to Brian Szabo, owner of Szabo Apparel Co., who offered up four tickets to Seipel for the Steelers game. Davis and his podcast cohost Kevin Tuleta also organized a GoFundMe so that the cost of Seipel's trip would be covered.
At t hat point, Seipel was in contact with Emily Mayfield. When she found out he was planning on coming to the game, she offered him 10 seats in her suite.
In a statement provided to the Beacon Journal, Emily Mayfield said the focus for her was simply making sure Seipel had a good time at his first game in two years.
“This isn't about us,” she said. “It's about Tom who deserved to have a good weekend and see a Cleveland Browns win. We just wanted him to do it right.”
And while he has always been a fan of Baker Mayfield, given everything that's happened in the last two weeks, Seipel said it was totally different watching him play in-person on Sunday.
It was also the icing on the cake that it was the quarterback who ended up clinching the game for the Browns. On thirdand -2 from the Pittsburgh 42-yard line, he picked up a 3-yard gain on a designed run. The first down allowed the Browns to get in victory formation.
“Any time he touched the ball, that game was so much more just because of him reaching out,” Seipel said.