Marcus Dajon Maye (born March 9, 1993) is an American 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

who is a free agent. He previously played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. 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 ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Maye is a native of

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

. Maye has been praised for his versatility and was selected first-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 ...

by ''

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''.

Early life

Maye attended and played

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 ...

Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida, is an Episcopal coeducational college-preparatory school for grades preschool – 12th. It was founded in 1957. The school operates under the guidance of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the ...

College career

Maye played

at the University of Florida. He

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 2012. As a freshman in 2013, he played in 8 games, making 16 tackles and an interception. As a sophomore in 2014, he played 11 games with 62 tackles, 5 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, and an interception. As a junior in 2015, Maye played 12 games with 77 tackles, 4 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions. As a senior in 2016, he played 9 games with 50 tackles, a sack, and an interception.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Maye received an invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, but opted to not perform drills and wait until his

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. At Florida's Pro Day, he chose to perform all of the combine drills except the bench press and completed positional drills for team representatives and scouts. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a second round draft pick. He was ranked as the fourth best free safety in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, was ranked the seventh best safety by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, and the eighth best safety by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

New York Jets

The

selected Maye in the second round (39th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the second safety selected by the Jets after they selected LSU's Jamal Adams sixth overall.

2017

On May 23, 2017, the Jets signed Maye to a four-year, $6.55 million contract with $3.66 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.90 million. He entered

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

competing against Jamal Adams and Calvin Pryor to be one of the starting safeties. Head coach Todd Bowles named Maye the starting free safety to begin the regular season, alongside strong safety Jamal Adams. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the

season-opener at the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and recorded seven combined tackles during a 21–12 loss. In Week 5, Maye recorded four combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career interception off a pass by quarterback Kevin Hogan in the Jets' 17–14 victory at the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. On October 22, 2017, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles, broke up a pass, and intercepted a pass attempt by

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...

in the Jets' 31–28 loss at the

. In Week 15, Maye made a season-high tying seven combined tackles during a 31–19 loss at the

. Maye finished his rookie season in with 79 combined tackles (57 solo), two pass deflections, and two interceptions in 16 starts.

2018

Maye missed the first three games of 2018 due to a foot injury, but returned in Week 4 as the Jets starting free safety. During Week 5 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Maye intercepted Case Keenum and returned it 104 yards but was a yard shy of scoring a touchdown. Time expired anyhow and the Jets won 34–16. The interception set the NFL record for longest interception return without scoring a touchdown. He then suffered a broken thumb the following week against 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 ...

and missed the next game. He returned in Week 8, playing in the next three games before suffering a shoulder injury in Week 10 against the Bills. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on December 1, 2018, ending an injury-plagued season for Maye.

2019

Maye changed his number from 26 to 20 to accommodate the signing of

Le'Veon Bell Le'Veon Andrew Bell Sr. ( ; born February 18, 1992) is an American Professional boxing, professional boxer and former American football, football running back. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans football, Michigan State ...

. In week 16 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, Maye recorded an interception off a pass thrown by Devlin Hodges late in the fourth quarter to seal a 16–10 Jets' win. This was Maye's first interception of the season. In the 2019 season, Maye started in all 16 games. He finished with 65 total tackles, one interception, and seven passes defended.

2020

During Week 1 against the Bills, Maye recorded a team high 10 tackles, two sacks, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, two passes defensed, and one forced fumble as the Jets lost 17–27. In Week 6 against the Dolphins, Maye recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine teams, the ...

by placing the ball between his hand and his backside during the 24–0 loss. In Week 11 against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, Maye forced a fumble on wide receiver Keenan Allen at the goal line which was recovered by teammate Ashtyn Davis during the 34–28 loss. In the 2020 season, he started in all 16 games. He finished with two sacks, 88 total tackles, two interceptions, 11 passes defended, and two forced fumbles.

2021

The Jets placed the

franchise tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...

on Maye on March 9, 2021. He signed the one-year tender on March 22, 2021. On November 9, 2021, Maye was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn Achilles in Week 9.

New Orleans Saints

On March 16, 2022, the

signed Maye to a three-year, $28.5 million contract. In the 2022 season, he appeared in and started in ten games. He finished with 60 total tackles, two passes defended, and one forced fumble. On September 20, 2023, Maye was suspended for three games in response to a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. He was placed on injured reserve on December 6. In the 2023 season, Maye appeared in and started seven games. He had one sack, 37 total tackles (27 solo), two interceptions, and two passes defended. On February 29, 2024, Maye was released by the Saints.

Miami Dolphins

On June 13, 2024, Maye signed with the

. He played in 11 games with three starts before being released on November 26.

Los Angeles Chargers

On November 27, 2024, Maye was claimed off waivers by the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Legal issues

On October 4, 2021, it was announced that Maye was facing charges in a DUI arrest and car crash that occurred back in February 2021. On September 1, 2022, Maye was arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm and was booked into Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. He was released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond. The incident occurred due to a road rage incident. Cops say Maye was driving a black SUV when he was accused of pointing a gun at a car full of "several juvenile females". Local bystanders were able to subdue Maye until officers responded.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bio

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maye, Marcus 1993 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Florida Gators football players Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy alumni Los Angeles Chargers players New Orleans Saints players New York Jets players Miami Dolphins players Players of American football from Melbourne, Florida