Derrick Binet Mayes (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for five seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

, earning second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1995. He was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the second round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

. Mayes also played for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, and was briefly a member of the

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Early life

After playing

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at North Central High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Mayes played

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1992 to 1995. He held the school record for career touchdown receptions until the record was broken by

Jeff Samardzija Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (; born January 23, 1985), nicknamed "Shark", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played college baseball and football for the University of Notre Dame, and was recognized as a two-time football All-A ...

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

The

selected Mayes in the second round (56th overall) of the

. He caught six passes in his rookie season, and roomed with fellow receiver

Andre Rison Andre Previn Rison (born March 18, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Gree ...

once Rison joined the team mid-season. He was part of the Packers'

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

winning team. In 1997, Mayes took on a bit of a punt returning role as well as expanding his time on offense. Mayes had arguably his best game as a Packer in 1998, catching three touchdowns in a game against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. Before the 1999 season, Mayes was traded to the

for a seventh-round draft pick.

Seattle Seahawks

In Mayes' first season in Seattle, he caught a career-high 62 passes for 829 yards and 10 touchdowns. In 2000, Mayes only caught 29 passes and one touchdown. On March 1, 2001, Mayes was cut by the Seahawks.

Kansas City Chiefs

Mayes was signed by the

on July 10, 2001, but was released during final roster cutdowns later that year.

Post-career life

Mayes graduated from Notre Dame with a communications degree. He now does video work, speaks to high school athletes, and runs former Notre Dame coach

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former college football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the N ...

's foundation. He also starred in ''

Ultimate Hustler ''Ultimate Hustler'' is an American reality show broadcast on BET created by Datari Turner. The show featured Damon Dash training 16 aspiring entrepreneurs, both men and women, who compete for an executive position to work for Damon Dash. Based on ...

'', a "hip-hop ''

Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It is a variation of '' The Apprentice'' series hosted by real estate developer Donald Trump from 2008 to 2015, and actor and former California Governor Arnold Sc ...

''," in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Derrick 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Indianapolis American football wide receivers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Green Bay Packers players Seattle Seahawks players