Jerry Mays (defensive lineman)

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Jerry Mays
No. 75
Position:
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died:July 17, 1994(1994-07-17) (aged 54)
Lake Lewisville, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
High school:Sunset
College:SMU
NFL draft:1961 / Round: 11 / Pick: 141
AFL draft:1961 / Round: 5 / Pick: 38
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:140
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Gerald Avery Mays (November 24, 1939 – July 17, 1994) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs.

Early years

Mays put together an all-state career at

Sunset High School before heading to Southern Methodist University, where he served as co-captain for the Mustangs
and earned All-Southwest Conference honors at defensive tackle.

A fifth round draft selection of the

1961, Mays turned down the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings, in order to play near his home in Dallas. He soon became a force at defensive tackle on the Texans' line, continuing his dominance at the defensive end when the team relocated in 1963 to become the Kansas City Chiefs
.

Combining emotion and durability with a competitive nature, Mays was a six-time

All-Star team at two different positions. He played in 126 straight games for the AFL Texans and Chiefs, and used his speed, agility and strong "second effort" to once recover and return a Jets' fumble 58 yards for a touchdown. His contribution to the Chiefs' strong defense helped them defeat the Vikings, 23-7, in Super Bowl IV. He was a captain in Super Bowl I
and Super Bowl IV.

Mays was named to the

All-time All-AFL Team in 1970 and announced his retirement after that season. He then returned to Dallas to work for a construction company owned by his father, Avery. He died of malignant melanoma cancer in 1994, two years after the death (from cancer) of his former teammate, Buck Buchanan. The other starting defensive end from the Super Bowl team, Aaron Brown, was killed in 1997 when struck by a car from behind, leaving Curley Culp
as the lone survivor of the Chiefs' vaunted front four from the championship club up until Culp's death in November 2021.

Mays is a Member of the Sunset High School Hall of Fame.

See also