1. Taylor Mays was born on February 7,1988 and is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League.
24 Facts About Taylor Mays
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Taylor Mays was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft and played in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders, playing in 66 regular season NFL games.
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Taylor Mays had a football-themed bar mitzvah in February 2001.
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Taylor Mays's father played defensive tackle for the University of Washington in the late 1970s, and was later drafted in the ninth round of the 1980 NFL draft by the then-St Louis Cardinals and later played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1987 to 1988.
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Taylor Mays played for the West Team in the 2006 US Army All-American Bowl game alongside future USC teammates Mitch Mustain and Stafon Johnson.
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On May 21,2005, Taylor Mays participated in the 2005 Palo Alto Nike, Inc Training Camp.
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Taylor Mays was expected to attend Washington in the footsteps of his father, but didn't want to fall under his father's shadow and decided to build his own legacy while citing Pete Carroll's enthusiasm and coaching style as a major factor in his decision, officially committing on August 14,2005.
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Taylor Mays received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Southern California, where he played for head coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team from 2006 to 2009.
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In 2006, Taylor Mays became the third player in Trojan history to be named the Pac-10's Co-Freshman of The Year while earning Second team All-American, 1st team Freshman All-American and Defensive Freshman of the Year honors from Sporting News magazine.
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Taylor Mays finished third on the team with 65 total tackles, 6 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception in 13 games in 2007.
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Taylor Mays stated in a Los Angeles Times interview on November 10 that he would decide whether or not to forfeit his senior year at USC to enter the 2009 NFL draft after the 2008 post season, saying that a big factor in his decision would come from his father and head coach Pete Carroll.
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Taylor Mays entered 2008 as one of the top safety prospects in the nation.
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Taylor Mays was regarded as unanimous first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft but opted to return to continue to develop and to complete his education at Southern California, citing the importance of graduating to himself and his parents as well as giving his last shot at leading USC to the BCS National Championship.
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Taylor Mays participated in the 2010 Senior Bowl, but played sparingly, making his interception of Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike in the second quarter being his only highlight.
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However, during an interview with Steve Wyche of NFL Network, Taylor Mays said that the NFL teams he was interviewed by during the 2010 NFL Combine processes never mentioned him switching positions, but that he would be willing do so if need be.
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On March 31,2010, Taylor Mays participated at USC's pro day, but only ran positional drills for team representatives and scouts in attendance.
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On July 30,2010, Taylor Mays signed a four-year contract with the 49ers.
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Taylor Mays played in all 16 games for the Bengals in 2014.
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Taylor Mays signed with the Minnesota Vikings on March 24,2015.
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On September 14,2015, Taylor Mays re-signed with the Raiders due to starting safeties, Nate Allen and Charles Woodson both sustaining injuries in the first regular season game.
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On October 9,2017, Taylor Mays was added to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the West Division of the Canadian Football League, and he played one game for them the following month.
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Taylor Mays was promoted to interim safeties coach in December 2023 when Donte Williams accepted the safeties coach position at Georgia.
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In January 2025, Taylor Mays was named the safeties coach at Washington.
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In 2018, Taylor Mays was inducted into The O'Dea High School Athletic Wall of Honor.