Rufus Lee Mayes (December 5, 1947 – January 9, 1990) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
| No. 71, 77 | |||||
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| Position: | Tackle | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | December 5, 1947 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||
| Died: | January 9, 1990 (aged 42) Bellevue, Washington, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Macomber-Whitney (OH) | ||||
| College: | Ohio State | ||||
| NFL draft: | 1969 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||
Early life edit
Mayes grew up in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt Mayes, who also had three daughters.[1] He attended Toledo Macomber High School in Toledo, where he led the team to the 1964 City League championship.
College career edit
Mayes attended Ohio State University and was a starting lineman for all 28 games he played for the Ohio State Buckeyes. His first two years, he was a tight end. After the Buckeyes had records of 4-5 and 6-3, respectively, in his first two-season, in his senior year he was switched to offensive tackle. The Buckeyes went 10-0, won the Big Ten championship, defeated the University of Southern California in the 1969 Rose Bowl and were named national champions.[2]
Following his senior season, Mayes was named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press.[3]
Professional career edit
Mayes was selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, for whom he played one season and 13 games.[4]
In January 1970, he was traded by the Bears to the Cincinnati Bengals in return for defensive lineman Bill Staley and Harry Gunner.[5] In 2004, the Chicago Tribune rated the trade of Mayes by the Bears to the Bengals the sixth-worst in Bears history.[6]
Mayes' first season with the Bengals, 1970, was the Bengals' first in the NFL following the NFL/AFL merger. He proceeded to become a perennial starter at offensive left tackle for eight seasons with the Bengals. During his eight-year Bengals career, Mayes started 98 of the 110 games he played.
He played out his option and became a free agent. In June 1978, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles,[7] for whom he played his final NFL season. As a backup, he played in all 16 games.[6][4]
Personal life edit
After football, Mayes was a marketing representative for Hewlett-Packard in Bellevue, Washington, and resided in Redmond, Washington, with his wife, Aishah, and son, Taysir.[1]
In 1994, he was inducted into the Ohio State Men's Varsity "O" Hall of Fame[2]
Rufus Mayes died on January 9, 1990, at age 42 of bacterial meningitis. His coach at Macomber High School, Steve Contos, called Mayes "a great guy, a very bright, very concerned, happy, easy to get along with type of guy."[2]
References edit
- ^ a b "The Bryan Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ a b c "Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ "Rufus Mayes athletic career, photos, articles, and videos | Fanbase". www.fanbase.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-08.
- ^ a b "Rufus Mayes Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ a b "These deals didn't work". 25 August 2004.
- ^ "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.