Taylor Mays (born February 7, 1988) is a former American football safety. He won Washington state titles in track in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash as a high school sophomore, before leaving track and field to dedicate himself to football. He played college football at USC, and was a three-time first-team All-American. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft and also played in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders, playing in 66 regular season NFL games.
Early life
Mays was born in Irving, Texas, the son of Stafford Mays, a former NFL defensive lineman, and Laurie Mays (née Black), a Nordstrom executive. He is African-American and Jewish and was raised in his mother's Jewish religion. Growing up he attended Sunday school from a young age, and then Hebrew school twice a week. He had a football-themed bar mitzvah in February 2001. Speaking of his bar mitzvah, he said: "I don't think at the time I really understood what it meant. Now, looking back on it, I feel like I have come a long way in regards to maturity and becoming an adult. I think it helped me do that". Growing up, he "celebrated Chanukah, Passover, and Yom Kippur always".
His father played defensive tackle for the University of Washington in the late 1970s, and was later drafted in the ninth round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the then-St. Louis Cardinals and later played as a defensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings from 1987 to 1988. His mother worked as an executive vice president at Nordstrom, and his father, Stafford, worked as a Microsoft executive.
From a young age, Mays always had a deep desire to play football; his father recalls Mays, at age 14, doing homework with his football helmet on. Mays also spent a lot of time as a kid watching old football tapes from when his father played. While his parents initially didn't allow him to play football, he played soccer and was noted as being very physical and much bigger than the other kids which led to his parents eventually letting him try out for the football team in the 7th grade.
High school career
Mays attended O'Dea High School, a Catholic boys high school located in Seattle, Washington's First Hill neighborhood in the 98104 zip code. Before playing football, Mays joined the track & field team to work on his speed. As a sophomore at O'Dea in 2004, Mays won both the 100-meter dash (10.54 s) and 200-meter dash (21.64 s) titles in the 3A State championships in the spring of 2004 before leaving track behind after his junior year to dedicate his last year in high school to prepare for football at the next level.
As a junior in 2004, he posted 124 tackles, 5 interceptions and 75 deflections, catching 25 passes for with 23 touchdowns and returning 12 punts for with 10 touchdowns while earning Student Sports Junior All-American honors as a defensive back, wide receiver and quarterback. His final year at O'Dea, he collected 166 tackles, 5 interceptions and 5 pass deflections as a safety while catching 36 passes for and 15 touchdowns. As a senior in 2005, he was named All-State First-team and All-Metro League Mountain Division Offensive MVP and Defensive Co-MVP. He also returned 12 punts for and 3 touchdowns. Mays played for the West Team in the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl game alongside future USC teammates Mitch Mustain and Stafon Johnson. He posted three tackles in the game.
On May 21, 2005, Mays participated in the 2005 Palo Alto Nike, Inc. Training Camp. Listed at 6'3", 218-pounds, Mays ran a 4.59 in the 40-yard dash, recorded 21 reps of 185-pounds on bench press and posted a 31" vertical jump. By age 17, Mays was 6' 3", 228-pounds.
Recruiting
Rivals.com listed Mays as the No. 1 overall prospect in the state of Washington in 2006. While considering offers from USC, Washington and Miami, Mays elected to commit to the University of Southern California after being recruited by defensive back coaches Rocky Seto and Greg Burns. Mays was expected to attend Washington in the footsteps of his father, but didn't want to fall under his father's shadow and decided to build his own legacy while citing Pete Carroll's enthusiasm and coaching style as a major factor in his decision, officially committing on August 14, 2005.
College career
Mays received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Southern California, where he played for head coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team from 2006 to 2009.