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 Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by the

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

in 2003. 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

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

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 it ...

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

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

, 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 (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

Early life

Mays was born in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, on July 13, 1979, and he grew up there. He attended

Miami Jackson High School Miami Jackson Senior High School, also known as Andrew Jackson High School or Jackson High School, is a high school located at 1751 NW 36th Street in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Its athletic team name is the Gen ...

where he was an All-State selection in his senior year despite breaking his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

College career

Mays attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and played football at the

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 ...

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 U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. 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

. 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, later called NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The first World Bowl was played ...

. 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 A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

and was traded.

Nashville Kats

Mays was traded to the

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 an American former professional gridiron football player and coach. Carter has been a professional gridiron football player in the Arena Football League (AFL), NFL Europe, and the Canadian Foot ...

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 Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek mythology, mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was m ...

. 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 Miami 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 Miami American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate players of American football