Devante Mays
 Mays with the Packers in the 2017 NFL preseason | |||||||
| No. 32 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | May 26, 1994 Livingston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 237 lb (108 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Livingston (Livingston, Texas) | ||||||
| College: | Utah State | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 2017 / Round: 7 / Pick: 238 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||
Devante Roshard Mays (born May 26, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Tyler Junior College, Blinn College and Utah State.[1][2]
Early years[edit]
Mays was born to Mark and Elwanda Mays in Livingston, Texas and is one of ten children the couple had together.[2] He attended Livingston High School where he played football, ran track, and competed in power-lifting.[2] During his senior year on the football team, he led the team to a 5–0 record and was averaging over 10 yards a carry. However, during the sixth game of the year he suffered a foot injury that ended his season prematurely.[3] He finished the season with 600 rushing yards on 58 carries with 10 touchdowns. His injury in addition to a non-qualifying academic status left him no recruiting offers despite his performance.[3]
College career[edit]
Community college[edit]
Mays graduated from Livingston High School and with the lack of recruiting offers on the table, chose to attend and play for Tyler Junior College. During his first carry with the school, he ran for a touchdown. However, his time there proved to be short lived as an off the field incident lead to his dismissal from the school and the team.[3] Feeling that his football career was over, he took a job working construction and taking courses at a nearby campus of his hometown.[3]
After a chance meeting with his former high school coach, he was able to return to the gridiron after a call earned him an invitation to a scouting combine at Blinn College, which invited him to return to school.[3] He redshirted his first year with the team.[3] However, following that season the head coach of the team, Ronny Feldon was fired and Mays found himself sitting on the bench without an opportunity to play in a very pass-oriented offense.[3] Almost to the point where he quit the team, he soon received his opportunity as two other running backs were removed from the team leaving him as the de facto starter.[3] During this time he ran for 557 rushing yards and three touchdowns in six games, allowing him to catch the attention of Utah State.[3]
Utah State[edit]
Following a visit to the Utah State campus, Mays claimed he had "fell in love with the place" and after receiving interest from a few more places decided to commit to the school.[3] He opted to major in interdisciplinary studies, emphasizing health and wellness.[3] As a junior with the team, he played in all 13 games and started six of them. He found success early on the field as his first NCAA Division I run went for 36 yards.[3] He finished the year with 165 carries for 966 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the team in every category.[2][4]
Mays continued on for his senior year with the team by playing in six games and starting two of them, but was limited after suffering a knee injury against USC in the second game of the season.[2][3][5]
Professional career[edit]
Pre-draft[edit]
Mays was projected as a seventh round pick by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com.[6] He was praised for his physical stature and his hard running stance, being willing to power through contact. He was also praised for his attitude and work ethic. Zierlein also expressed concern about his reoccurring injury history and his hesitation for hitting certain running lanes.[6]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Mays gets drafted by Green Bay |
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 10+3⁄8 | 230 lb (104 kg) |
4.52 s | 1.62 s | 2.60 s | 4.53 s | 7.43 s | 40+1⁄2 | 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) |
22 reps | 18[7] | ||
| All values are from Pro Day[8] | ||||||||||||
Green Bay Packers[edit]
Mays was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round, 238th overall, in the 2017 NFL Draft.[9][10] He was signed to a four-year contract on May 5, 2017.[11]
On November 19, against the Baltimore Ravens, Mays had his first three career carries, which totaled −1 yard.[12] In the season finale against the Detroit Lions, he had one carry for two yards.[13] Overall, in his rookie season, he appeared in eight games and had four carries for one rushing yard to go along with three receptions for no receiving yards.[14]
On September 1, 2018, Mays was placed on injured reserve, and was later released with an injury settlement.[15]
Cleveland Browns[edit]
Mays was signed to the practice squad of the Cleveland Browns on October 23, 2018.[16] The Browns signed Mays to a futures contract on January 2, 2019. Mays was released by the Browns on May 13, 2019.[17]
Jacksonville Jaguars[edit]
On July 31, 2019, Mays was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2019.[19]
NFL career statistics[edit]
Regular season[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||||
| 2017 | GB | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Source: NFL.com | |||||||||||||||
References[edit]
- ^ "Now healthy, Devante Mays impressive during Utah State's Pro Day". Deseret News. March 31, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "utahstateaggies.com – Devante Mays Bio – Utah State Official Athletic Site – Football". Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Spofford, Mike (May 15, 2017). "'Believe Big'". Packers.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ^ "Devante Mays 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Devante Mays 2016 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "2017 NFL Draft Profile: Devante Mays". NFL.com. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
- ^ "2017 NFL draft: Green Bay Packers picks". PackersNews.com. April 30, 2017. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- ^ "Devante Mays - Utah State, RB : 2017 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". DraftScout.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Packers draft a third running back". Packers.com. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018.
- ^ "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ^ "Packers sign five draft picks, 15 rookie free agents". Packers.com. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers - November 19th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ "Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions - December 31st, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ "Devante Mays 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Packers announce roster moves". Packers.com. September 1, 2018.
- ^ "Browns elevate TE Pharaoh Brown to active roster". ClevelandBrowns.com. October 23, 2018.
- ^ "Browns sign nine players". ClevelandBrowns.com. January 2, 2019.
- ^ "The Jaguars sign RB Devante Mays". Jaguars.com. July 31, 2019.
- ^ Oehser, John (August 31, 2019). "Roster reduction: Jaguars move to 53 players". Jaguars.com.
External links[edit]
- Utah State Aggies bio Archived June 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
Media related to Devante Mays at Wikimedia Commons
