Jerry Mays (defensive lineman)

Did You Know?

• Mays was a straight-A student who graduated with honors in civil engineering from SMU, earning the highest grades among civil engineering students.
• He was twice named an Academic All-American and received the Earl Blaik National Scholar Athlete award.
• Mays was the only SMU player named to the first or second All-Southwest Conference team in 1960, despite the Mustangs failing to win a single game that season.

Early life

Mays was born in Dallas, Texas, to Avery Mays and Eva Blanche (Ponder) Mays. His father was a builder and real estate developer who served as a Dallas Chamber of Commerce president and on the board of Lone Star Gas Company, and also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Dallas. Mays had one older sister, Joyce, a public school teacher. He began working for his father's construction company at age nine, cleaning up construction sites after school and during summers. He attended Sunset High School, where he was student body president, senior class president, a Lt. Governor of Texas' Boys State, and a National Honor Society member. On the football team, he was an All-State lineman in 1956 and team captain, leading Sunset to the Sanger Trophy. He also placed second in a statewide shot put meet.

Professional career

The Dallas Texans selected Mays in the fifth round of the 1961 AFL draft, and the Minnesota Vikings chose him in the 11th round of the 1961 NFL draft. He signed with the Texans in mid-January 1961, turning down the Vikings to play near his home in Dallas. As a rookie in 1961, he started four games on the defensive line under head coach Hank Stram. In 1962, he became a full-time starter at right defensive tackle.

The Sporting News named him first-team All-AFL that year, and the AP and UPI named him second-team All-AFL. He started in the 1962 AFL Championship game, a double-overtime victory over the Houston Oilers. When the team moved to Kansas City in 1963, Mays started ten games at right tackle and returned a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown in the season finale, earning the game ball. Stram made him defensive captain in 1963.

Before the 1964 season, Mays considered retiring if he could not play for the Dallas Cowboys due to family hardship, but he remained with the Chiefs and continued as defensive co-captain.

Legacy and honors

Jerry Mays could have made more money working for his father’s construction and real estate business, but he chose to play professional football because he loved the game and knew how rare the opportunity was. His teammates sometimes teased him about his family’s wealth. Coach Hank Stram said Mays’s secret was that his “accelerator is stuck at 100 per cent effort.” Mays never missed a game in his 10-year career, playing 140 regular season games, four AFL playoff games, and two Super Bowls.

He had 65.5 career sacks at both tackle and end, was first- or second-team All-AFL from 1962 to 1969, and played in six AFL All-Star Games and one AFC-NFC Pro Bowl at two positions. He served as defensive captain in Super Bowls I and IV, started 126 regular season games for the Texans/Chiefs, and started every Chiefs game from 1964 to 1970. The Pro Football Hall of Fame named him to the All-time All-AFL Team in 1970. In 1972, he became only the third player inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Honor.

Chiefs fans voted him to the team’s 25th anniversary all-time team in 1987, and he entered the Sunset High School Hall of Fame in 2012.

Personal life and death

Mays married Jo Ann Clark in August 1956 while they were in high school. They had three children by his second year in the NFL. During offseasons, he worked for his father's construction business, once overseeing an addition to Sunset High School, and became a vice-president of Avery Mays Construction Company in 1969 and 1970. After retiring, he returned to Dallas to work for Mays Construction, becoming company president in 1971, and also became a partner in an insurance agency. He was active in charitable work for the American Red Cross, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the March of Dimes, and was involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He died of melanoma on July 17, 1994, survived by his wife and their seven children.