Baker Mayfield’s Triumphant Oklahoma Statue Earns Comparisons to ‘Terminator 2’ Character

Soon-to-be former Cleveland Browns quarterback and 2017 Heisman Trophy winner returned his alma mater, Oklahoma University on Saturday to celebrate the unveiling of a statue erected in his honor. Given that we live in a pop culture drenched society, many quickly saw the statue and felt it looked eerily like a certain Terminator 2 character.

You don’t even have to look too close to see the resemblance to actor Robert Patrick, the chilling and villainous T-1000 in the hit sequel. Fans of the team, the film and just general commenters online couldn’t help but make a few jokes online at the expense of the college QB’s statue. And even Robert Patrick himself took notice.

“Come on, clearly [Robert Patrick] posed for this statue,” one person wrote with side-by-side photos of Patrick and the statue. “Robert Patrick, looks like Oklahoma decided to honor you with a statue!” another added, also tagging ESPN and Mayfield in the tweet.

Patrick responded to a fan who felt the resemblance was too good to pass up. He kept it short, but he seemed a bit surprised that fans would take the meme and run with it.

While it has been 30 years since in theaters, it is hard to deny the effect it had on fans. Each sequel in the franchise owes a debt to James Cameron’s follow-up to the original ’80s classic, which is a double-edge because they can never live up to it.

Patrick’s performance is one of the key reasons for the success and longevity. In a chat with The Guardian, Patrick explained how he gave Cameron a bit of a scare with his audition, spooking him with his intensity. He also reflected on the response from people on the streets when the film was released.

“Yes. That was fascinating to me, being a total unknown guy, and all of a sudden having people freaking out in the streets, people telling me ‘I don’t like knives and I don’t like scissors and your run scares the s- out of me, you terrified me as child, blah blah blah,’” Patrick said. “One of the first times I became aware my life had changed was when I was in Chicago doing a screen test for a movie with Robert De Niro that I didn’t get. And T2 had just come out and I was walking the streets of Chicago and people were just freaking out.”

Patrick reprised the role for the T2 Universal Studios 4D experience that closed a few years ago, and for a cameo in Wayne’s World. But it is the original performance and the special effects that carried it into a permanent pop culture spot.

As for Mayfield, he’s still technically on the Browns roster but isn’t expect to stick around after this season. But he was honored by the statue and spoke about it in a post from the end of March. Hopefully he has a good sense of humor to go along with the memes. His statue also earns comparisons to Dennis from Always Sunny and Cole Hauser’s shiny villain from 2 Fast 2 Furious.