- This is David Mayo’s Twitter profile picture. Yup, this is a linebacker/special teams guy:
- You may not have heard of Mayo, but he can play. He ranked second in the country with 154 tackles at Texas State last year, averaging a ridiculous 13 stops a game. Sure, those numbers came mostly in the Sun Belt Conference, but his coaches raved about his nose for finding the football.
- That’s a phrase you often hear about Luke Kuechly, who Mayo met on his pre-draft visit to Carolina. “I’m so fortunate to go to a place like this to learn from a player like him,” Mayo said on a conference call with local reporters.
- Coach Ron Rivera, who called Mayo “a knockback tackler,” said the 21-year-old can play in the middle and on the strongside. Mayo will also have a big role on special teams.
- The Panthers now have two players from Scappoose, Ore.: Mayo and quarterback Derek Anderson.
- Before spending three seasons at Texas State, Mayo spent a year at Santa Monica Junior College. It can obviously get a bit pricey in Santa Monica, so Mayo lived in a shed. That’s right – a shed.