USC's Mays at home hitting, dancing
Playing in South Bend 'special' for physical safety
Taylor Mays Photo Shoot
Taylor Mays clearly is one of the more irreverent college football players in the country.
Need proof? How about as quick as he can knock the snot out of an opposing player, he can turn around and perform a choreographed routine with his school's short-skirted dance team. And as quickly as he decided to stay in school for his senior season, he also quickly admitted that his decision, in part, was because he was suddenly popular with a sorority girl. And despite his good looks, charm and charisma, at 6-feet-3, 230 pounds with 4.25-second 40 speed, Southern California's all-everything safety changes the way opposing offenses attack.
Actually, irreverent might not be a strong enough word.
"It's all about taking advantage of everything I can," Mays says simply, chuckling at the dichotomy of who he has become. "I want to experience the whole package of what is college life."
And if that means challenging California's lightning-fast running back Jahvid Best to a race in the hallway of a hotel during Pac-10 media day, so be it.
It didn't happen, but leading up to the USC-Cal matchup Oct. 4, Mays was asked:
"How fast is Best?"
"Fast," he said.
"How fast are you?"
"Faster."
And if taking advantage of everything he can means learning the song-girl routine and allowing it to be videotaped (a YouTube fan favorite), so be it as well.
"That's part of the whole story," he said. "Having fun, doing stuff like that when I can. I can't do that when I'm 40 and, God willing, I'm married. I can't make videos like that."
Mays was born in Seattle, the son of a former NFL player who had starred at the University of Washington. Wanting to establish his own identity, he signed with USC and became a starter as a freshman after starter Josh Pinkard went down because of an injury. He hasn't looked back, mainly because he faces forward patrolling the open space, waiting for prey.
As a junior, he earned first-team All-American honors and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is awarded to the top defensive back in college football. He was so dominant and intimidating in the defensive secondary that many believed he would leave school early and enter the NFL draft. Many projected he would be a top-10 pick.
But two days before the deadline, he stunned just about everyone by announcing he was staying in school to continue his education and get a shot at another national championship. That a certain female was partly involved in the decision wasn't surprising to those who know him best. That relationship didn't last (but fear not, he found another girlfriend, USC volleyball player Paige Obradovich), but it did allow Mays to realize how much he was looking forward to his senior year, hanging with his teammates during summer workouts and fall camp and taking time to experience a last chance at being a student-athlete.
And that includes heading into South Bend this weekend.
"If you had asked me this time last year, I wouldn't have thought I would have been back here to play at Notre Dame," he said. "It's special, something I'll always remember. Seeing Touchdown Jesus, all that. I watched the 'Rudy' movie. It's going out there, taking pictures, stuff you'll remember for the rest of your life."
Because of an injury he suffered against Ohio State (a bruised right medial collateral ligament), he wasn't able to create a memory he greatly anticipated. He had to miss the game at Washington last month, a game the Trojans lost without Mays and starting quarterback Matt Barkley.
"It was really tough," Mays said. "Having to go home and sit out against a team I grew up watching, it was tough. But it's football, things happen, and you've got to deal with it. Hopefully it made me a stronger person."
One thing is certain (girlfriends aside): Mays has become a stronger leader, more vocal and forceful, someone the entire defense looks to for guidance.
"When Taylor speaks, everyone listens," Trojans defensive lineman Christian Tupou says. "A lot of us older guys look to him as the voice of the defense. Without him, the defense definitely wouldn't be on the same page, or as hard-hitting, sticking people in their faces."
There is that. As for his off-the-field activities, Tupou lets out a boisterous laugh.
"You have to have a switch," he says. "And everyone knows Taylor has that switch. When he comes through that door [to the practice field], he's all business. As long as he has my back on the field, he's my brother, so off the field, he's my brother, so he can do whatever he wants."
Except perform at halftime.
Shelley Smith is a reporter for ESPN.
