Joseph Lamont Mays (born July 6, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He played college football at

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

and was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Mays also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

, Houston Texans,

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

and San Diego Chargers.

Early years

Mays attended Hyde Park High School in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. He did not play football until his junior year of high school. He earned first-team all-conference honors in both his junior and senior years. He was named a first-team all-city selection as a senior in football after he made 115 tackles, 16 sacks, and two interceptions.

College career

As a senior at

, Mays led the team on defense with 90 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. He earned All-American honors and was named the

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football followin ...

Defensive Player of the Year. Mays was a three-time first-team All-Great West Conference selection in his career. He made 285 total tackles, a school-record 159 solo tackles, 29.5 tackles-for-loss, three interceptions, and eleven sacks in his 31 games started and 43 games played in his career.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Mays was drafted by the

in the sixth round with the 200th overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent most of the 2008 season inactive, but played in the last two games of the season on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. On August 2, 2009, the starting linebacker for the Eagles, Stewart Bradley, suffered a season-ending torn ACL during training camp. At subsequent Eagles practices, Mays was promoted to Bradley's position, middle linebacker, although

Omar Gaither Omar Thabiti Gaither (born March 18, 1984) is a former American football linebacker of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He has played for the Philadelphia Ea ...

beat him out for the job.

Denver Broncos

Mays was traded to the

in exchange for running back J. J. Arrington on July 30, 2010. On September 25, 2012, Mays was suspended for one game and fined $50,000 dollars by the NFL for his hit on the Houston Texans quarterback

Matt Schaub Matthew Schaub (born June 25, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the th ...

that lacerated Schaub's earlobe. During the Week 8 game against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Mays fractured his fibula and was placed on injured reserve. On July 23, 2013, Mays was released by the Broncos.

Houston Texans

On July 29, 2013, Mays signed with the Houston Texans to a one-year contract.

Kansas City Chiefs

Mays signed with the

on March 12, 2014. Due to an injury suffered in the Chiefs final preseason game, Mays was placed on injured reserve with a designated for return tag, and was activated on November 8, 2014. He was released by the team on March 5, 2015.

New York Jets

Mays was signed by the New York Jets on April 13, 2015.

San Diego Chargers

Mays signed a 1-year contract with the San Diego Chargers on October 20, 2015.

Personal life

Mays earned a degree in physical education from North Dakota State. He and his wife, LaToyia, have one son, Jai, and one daughter, Joi.

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Joe 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football linebackers North Dakota State Bison football players Philadelphia Eagles players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players San Diego Chargers players Hyde Park Academy High School alumni