Blue and Gold Illustrated

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? NFL second‑round pick Courtney Watson, Mike Goolsby and Brandon Hoyte as an inside linebacker. "I've always felt I'm a better man for it," Mays said. "It prepared me for the NFL in that it made me realize it's a business and things change. Manage‑ ment changes, and you always have to be ready to adapt and adjust at any given time. "When you have those kind of changes, you have to be ready to be responsible and responsive. You have to be able to learn a new system and adapt to new people. "I wouldn't change the way any‑ thing happened because it made me the man I am today — and all my teammates the men they are today." Weis' arrival in 2005 led to "the time of my life" in football, according to Mays. Finally in the starting lineup as a fifth‑year senior, Mays finished second in tackles (80) to Hoyte. He notched 12.5 tackles for loss and five sacks, plus he forced three fumbles and re‑ covered three while the 9‑3 Irish had their first top‑10 finish in 12 years (and one of only two since then). One goal‑line stop away from upset‑ ting No. 1 USC might have been all that stood between playing Texas for a national title, but USC prevailed with a 34‑31 win. "We should have never been in that position in the first place," Mays la‑ mented. "It was fourth‑and‑nine back in their territory. We should have been off the field. It happened. It's football." Most of his Notre Dame career, though, Mays was known as a spe‑ cial teams mainstay. When he reported to New England as an undrafted free agent, his ears perked up. "The first thing Bill Belichick says to us in rookie mini‑camp is, 'If you can't play special teams, you have no use on this team,'" Mays recalled. "I'm jump‑ ing for joy inside because I knew how to play special teams. Some things are a blessing in disguise." The long shot Mays made the Patri‑ ots roster and later in his career played at Cincinnati and Kansas City, too, re‑ cording 85 tackles for the Chiefs in 2009 as a starter. BEYOND FOOTBALL During his time in the NFL, Mays utilized the resources the league pro‑ vided via "boot camps" that included business management seminars run by Penn and Harvard. He also was at Universal Studios while working with directors and ac‑ tors, and attended boot camp with NFL Films with broadcast journalism as a potential future option in his ca‑ reer. Business became his ultimate pas‑ sion, and he prepared himself because he knew his NFL background wasn't alone going to open doors. "That's the misconception," Mays said. "You think the brand is going to give you a job. But realistically, you turn in a résumé and all you've been doing is playing football and doing nothing in the offseason. You can't walk into Morgan‑Stanley and say, 'I've been tackling people. Give me a job.' "The brand can get you in the build‑ ing. You need to take advantage of that

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