Jermaine Mays (born July 13, 1979) is a former professional American and Canadian football

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in 2003. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

. Mays was also a member of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, Nashville Kats,

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

Early life

Mays was born in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, on July 13, 1979, and he grew up there. He attended Miami Jackson High School where he was an All-State selection in his senior year despite breaking his collarbone.

College career

Mays attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and played football at the wide receiver position for the Golden Gophers in 2001 and 2002. He majored in Youth Studies & Leadership while at Minnesota. After getting

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2000, Mays saw limited action in 2001. He recorded 21 receptions and 381 yards. He also scored an 81-yard touchdown which proved to be a game winner against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. In 2002, Mays won the team MVP award after playing on special teams and setting a school record with five blocked punts in one season.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Mays was signed as an

by the

on September 10, 2003, as a wide receiver. On August 5, 2003, Mays switched to

. Mays was assigned by the Vikings to the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

in 2004. He helped lead the Thunder to a

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

. The Vikings released him on September 6, 2004.

Indianapolis Colts

Mays was signed by the

on February 11, 2005 and was assigned to the

. He recorded 22 tackles, and scored a touchdown for 100 yards which is the league record. He was released by the Colts on September 4, 2005.

Orlando Predators

The

signed Mays on October 12, 2005, but did not play in any games for the Predators that season. In 2006, he started the first four games for the Predators before he pulled his hamstring and was traded.

Nashville Kats

Mays was traded to the Nashville Kats for future

teammate

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Khalil Carter Kahlil Rafiq Carter, (born September 13, 1976) is a former professional gridiron football player and coach. College football From 1994 to 1997, Carter walked-on to the University of Arkansas' football team along with Brandon Burlsworth who in ...

on March 15, 2006. He recorded 74 tackles, two interceptions one of which he returned for a touchdown during his rookie year.

Toronto Argonauts (first stint)

Mays was signed by the

on May 12, 2006. He played in eight games for the Argonauts, seven of which he started. Made his CFL debut against the

and recorded his first interception in the CFL in the same game, picking off Jason Maas. In 2007, he dressed for four games with the Argonauts, but was released on August 18, 2007.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On March 7, 2008, Mays was signed by the

. However, after not playing a game for the Tiger-Cats, he was released on July 29, 2008.

Toronto Argonauts (second stint)

The Argonauts re-signed Mays on October 15, 2008. He was released on May 29, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Jermaine 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Minneapolis Sportspeople from Minneapolis American football wide receivers American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Minnesota Vikings players Berlin Thunder players Indianapolis Colts players Orlando Predators players Nashville Kats players Toronto Argonauts players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Players of Canadian football from Minnesota Expatriate sportspeople in Germany