CAREER: In his career, Mays had 276 tackles and 5 interceptions.
2009: The hard-hitting, athletically-gifted (4.25 in the 40, 41-inch vertical, 425-pound bench press) Mays, a 3-time All-American first teamer, started for his fourth season as free safety as a senior in 2009. Overall in 2009 while starting 12 games (he missed the Washington game because of a sprained right knee suffered at Ohio State), he had a team-best 96 tackles along with 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 3 deflections. He was just the fifth defensive back (and the first since Troy Polamalu in 2001) to lead USC in tackles in a season since records were kept in 1954. His 96 tackles were the most by a Trojan since linebacker Lofa Tatupu’s 104 in 2004.
He made the 2009 Walter Camp All-American first team and CollegeFootballNews.com All-American first team, becoming just the fourth Trojan to be a 3-time All-American first teamer (joining linebacker Richard Wood in 1972-74, quarterback Matt Leinart in 2003-05 and offensive tackle Sam Baker in 2005-07). He was a semifinalist for the 2009 Thorpe Award, Bednarik Award and Lott Trophy. He also made the 2009 AP All-American second team, Sporting News All-American second team, Rivals.com All-American third team, SI.com All-American honorable mention and Pro Football Weekly All-American honorable mention. He made the 2009 All-Pac-10 first team (for the second consecutive year), ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team, Sporting News All-Pac-10 first team, CollegeFootballNews.com All-Pac-10 first team, Phil Steele’s All-Pac-10 first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team. He won USC’s Co-Lifter of the Year Award and Jack Oakie “Rise and Shine” Award (biggest hit). He was a Senior Bowl invitee.
He had 6 tackles against San Jose State, then led USC with 8 tackles at Ohio State (despite spraining his knee in the first half) to earn U.S. Army All-American Bowl College Player of the Week honors. He had 4 tackles against Washington State, then he led USC with 10 tackles at California and intercepted a pass in the end zone on the Bears’ opening drive (leading to a USC TD) to earn Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week and Lott Trophy IMPACT Player of the Week honors. He had a team-high 10 tackles at Notre Dame, 11 tackles against Oregon State, 8 tackles at Oregon and 5 tackles at Arizona State. He had 11 tackles, a fumble recovery (to set up a USC TD) and a deflection against Stanford, then had 9 tackles against UCLA, 9 tackles and 2 deflections against Arizona and 5 tackles against Boston College.
2008: Mays started for his third season at free safety as a junior in 2008 and had a highly-decorated season. Overall in 2008 while starting all 13 games, he had 53 tackles, including 2 for losses of 7 yards, and a team-high 9 deflections. He was named a 2008 consensus All-American first teamer (AP, Football Writers, Walter Camp, Sporting News, ESPN.com, SI.com, CBSSports.com, Phil Steele’s, Pro Football Weekly, Collegefootballnews.com) and All-American second teamer (Rivals.com), was among 3 finalists for the 2008 Thorpe Award, made the 2008 All-Pac-10 first team and both Collegefootballnews.com and Phil Steele’s All-Pac-10 first teams, and won USC’s Bob Chandler Award. He had arthroscopic surgery on his ankle prior to 2008 spring practice. He was named to the 2008 Playboy Pre-Season All-American team.
He had a game-high 6 tackles (1.5 for losses) and a deflection at Virginia, added 8 stops against Ohio State and 6 tackles against both Oregon State and Oregon. He then had 2 tackles against Arizona State, 2 stops (0.5 for a loss at Washington State, 4 tackles at Arizona and 3 tackles and a deflection against Washington. He had 5 tackles and 4 deflections versus California to earn Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors. He added 5 tackles at Stanford, 2 stops against Notre Dame and a tackle and deflection at UCLA. He added 4 tackles and a deflection versus Penn State.
2007: After a decorated freshman season in 2006, Mays returned for his second season as the starting free safety as a sophomore in 2007 and continued his stellar play. Overall in 2007 while starting all 13 games, he had 65 tackles (third on USC), 1 interception, 6 deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble. He was named a 2007 The Sporting News All-American first team, SI.com All-American second team, AP All-American third team, Jewish Sports Review All-American, Collegefootballnews.com Sophomore All-American second team, All-Pac-10 honorable mention and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 first team pick.
He had 5 tackles versus Idaho, 6 stops and a deflection at Nebraska, 3 tackles against Washington State and 2 tackles at Washington. He added 2 tackles, 2 deflections and an interception (to set up an USC TD) against Stanford. He had 4 tackles and forced a fumble against Arizona, then had 5 stops at Notre Dame, a career-best 12 tackles at Oregon, 6 tackles against Oregon State and 10 tackles and 3 deflections (both team highs) at California. He had 4 tackles at Arizona State and 3 stops and a fumble recovery against UCLA. He had 3 tackles against Illinois.
2006: Just a first-year freshman, Mays took over the free safety job in 2006 after Josh Pinkard suffered a season-ending injury in the opener and he ended up starting USC’s final 12 games. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games, he had 62 tackles, a team-best 3 interceptions that he returned 40 yards (13.3 avg.) and 3 deflections. He made the 2006 The Sporting News All-American second team, Collegefootballnews.com Defensive Freshman of the Year, The Sporting News Freshman All-American first team, Rivals.com Freshman All-American first team, Scout.com Freshman All-American first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team and was named Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year, The Sporting News Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year and Rivals.com Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
After getting 2 tackles at Arkansas, he had 5 tackles against Nebraska while starting for the first time at free safety. He then had 3 tackles at Arizona, 4 tackles, a deflection and an interception near the goal line on the game’s last play at Washington State, 8 stops with a deflection against Washington and a tackle versus Arizona State. He made a game-best 11 tackles (with a deflection) at Oregon State, added 4 stops at Stanford, had 4 tackles and returned an interception 38 yards against Oregon and 6 tackles and an interception against California. He had 7 tackles against Notre Dame, 3 at UCLA and 4 versus Michigan.
HIGH SCHOOL: He was named a 2005 Parade All-American (he was the defensive back MVP), USA Today All-USA first team, EA Sports All-American first team, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, ESPN 150, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, U.S. Army All-American Game participant, Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News-Tribune Western 100, Tacoma News Tribune Northwest Nugget, Gatorade Washington Player of the Year, All-State first team and All-Metro League Mountain Division Offensive MVP and Defensive Co-MVP pick as a senior defensive back, wide receiver and quarterback at O’Dea High in Seattle, Wash. He had 166 tackles, 5 interceptions returned for 98 yards (19.6 avg.) and 5 deflections in 2005, plus caught 36 passes for 765 yards (21.3 avg.) with 15 TDs and rushed for 3 more scores.
As a junior in 2004, he made Student Sports Junior All-American while posting 89 tackles, 5 interceptions and 5 deflections, catching 25 passes for 614 yards (20.6 avg.) with 7 TDs and returning 12 punts for 392 yards (32.7 avg.) with 3 TDs.
He also ran track (best of 10.88 in the 100 meters) at O’Dea, where he was a 2-time (2004-05) state 3A champion in the 100 and 200 meters.
PERSONAL: He’s a sociology major at USC. His father, Stafford Mays, was a defensive lineman at Washington in 1978 and 1979 who then played in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980-86) and Minnesota Vikings (1987-88 when current USC head coach Pete Carroll was an assistant coach there).