This is Emily Wilkinson: Buccaneers’ QB Baker Mayfield’s wife

As Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield continues to have an incredible season, more and more eyes are on him. And that includes his personal life as well. Mayfield is having a great season so far with the Bucs, but earlier this year, he also shared some exciting news with the world - he became a father!

Mayfield and his wife, Emily Wilkinson, welcomed their daughter Kova Jade Mayfield into the world in April 2024. With that said, let’s learn a little bit more about Mayfield’s biggest supporter.

Love at first encounter

Mayfield met Wilkinson in 2017 when a mutual friend suggested that they would make a perfect couple. Though this friend had been trying to set them up for several months, they actually ended up seeing each other by chance over a FaceTime video call. When Mayfield was still playing football at the University of Oklahoma, he was on a video call with his brother and saw Wilkinson in the background. He realized she was the girl that their friend had been trying to set him up with, and he was hooked.

Mayfield layer started following and unfollowing Wilkinson on Instagram to try to get her attention. Eventually, he invited her to watch him play in the Rose Bowl and the two had lunch together the day before to get to know each other.

“I was assuming he’d be the typical playboy athlete,” Wilkinson told ESPN. But she was pleasantly surprised when Mayfield showed interest in her life, asking questions about her future plans rather than talking about the big game the whole time. From there, the relationship took off fast. Mayfield quickly moved in with Wilkinson and her brothers in Los Angeles, California. Six months later, they were engaged.

The couple got married on July 6, 2019 at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, California in front of 350 guests. Some of Mayfield’s friends in the NFL were there, including Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and then-Cleveland Browns teammate Odell Beckham Jr.

In December 2023, they announced that they were expecting their first child with an Instagram post which showed photos from a maternity shoot. They included their adorable dog, Fergus, who wore a bandana that read “big brother”. Mayfield wore a cap that said “Dad”. By April 2024, they became parents to their little girl, Kova Jade.

All about Emily Wilkinson

Emily Wilkinson is originally from Nebraska. Born in 1991, she is now 33 years old. She has three siblings - two brothers, Sammy and Benny, and one sister, Annie. She stayed in Nebraska all throughout college, attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned her business administration degree in 2013. She moved to L.A. after she finished her studies and began working as a patient coordinator at Galanis Plastic Surgery. She quit that job in 2018 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio with Mayfield when he was drafted by the Browns.

These days, Wilkinson has become an internet personality with more than 220,000 followers on Instagram, where she shares her life with Mayfield. Together, they started a foundation which provides “programs, scholarships, and philanthropic opportunities to help others tackle life’s challenges in order to be the best version of themselves”, according to their webpage.

Wilkinson has been Mayfield’s biggest supporter throughout his time and challenges in the NFL. He suffered through some struggles with the Browns, but she always defended him and she is constantly showing up to his games to cheer him on.

Now that the couple has a child together, they seem even happier and stronger than ever. When Kova Jade was born in April, Wilkinson wrote on Instagram, “Daddy is so smitten, and Mama wants to pause time forever & make these days last forever.”