Rufus Lee Mayes (December 5, 1947 – January 9, 1990) was an

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

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

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) for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, and 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Early life

Mayes grew up in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt Mayes, who also had three daughters. He attended Toledo Macomber High School in Toledo, where he led the team to the 1964 City League championship.

College career

Mayes attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

and was a starting lineman for all 28 games he played for the Ohio State Buckeyes. His first two years, he was a tight end. After the Buckeyes had records of 4-5 and 6-3, respectively, in his first two-season, in his senior year he was switched to offensive tackle. The Buckeyes went 10-0, won the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

championship, defeated the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in the 1969 Rose Bowl and were named national champions. Following his senior season, Mayes was named Second-Team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Professional career

Mayes was selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 1969 NFL/AFL draft by the Chicago Bears, for whom he played one season and 13 games. In January 1970, he was traded by the Bears to the Cincinnati Bengals in return for defensive lineman

Bill Staley William Patrick Staley (born September 9, 1946) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for five years in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played a total of 49 games, in ...

and Harry Gunner. In 2004, the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

rated the trade of Mayes by the Bears to the Bengals the sixth-worst in Bears history. Mayes' first season with the Bengals, 1970, was the Bengals' first in the NFL following the NFL/AFL merger. He proceeded to become a perennial starter at offensive left tackle for eight seasons with the Bengals. During his eight-year Bengals career, Mayes started 98 of the 110 games he played. He played out his option and became a free agent. In June 1978, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he played his final NFL season. As a backup, he played in all 16 games.

Personal life

After football, Mayes was a marketing representative for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

, and resided in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. The city h ...

, with his wife, Aishah, and son, Taysir. In 1994, he was inducted into the Ohio State Men's Varsity "O" Hall of Fame Rufus Mayes died on January 9, 1990, at age 42 of

bacterial meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasionall ...

. His coach at Macomber High School, Steve Contos, called Mayes "a great guy, a very bright, very concerned, happy, easy to get along with type of guy."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Rufus 1947 births 1990 deaths Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee American football offensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Philadelphia Eagles players Neurological disease deaths in the United States Infectious disease deaths in the United States Deaths from meningitis