Why Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer will not be at the NFL Draft
Earning the chance to walk across the NFL Draft stage as a first-round selection is a once in a lifetime type of opportunity. Only 32 people on earth get to do it every year. Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer is projected to be one of them Thursday night.
But he won’t be. And that’s his choice.
Instead of being on site in Kansas City for the draft, Mayer will spend the evening with family and friends in his hometown of Independence, Ky., just south of Cincinnati. He’s only ever going to hear his named called in the draft once. He wants to be around as many people who mean the most to him as possible in that moment.
“The whole thought process was there have been a lot of people to help me out along the way,” Mayer told NFL Network on Wednesday. “I want to be able to be with them on this night. It’s a very important night tomorrow night. We got about 50 people coming over, all family and friends, some of my coaches. I wanted to be with some of my coaches who have really helped me.”
Mayer left Notre Dame as the most decorated tight end in program history. His 180 catches, 2,099 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns are more than any tight end that has ever played for the Fighting Irish. There have been a lot of good ones, too; Notre Dame is the school with the most tight ends to be selected in NFL Draft history with 25.
Mayer’s journey to superstardom wasn’t a straight path. There was a time early in high school when he wanted to focus on basketball. His dream was to play basketball for the University of Kentucky and then the Oklahoma City Thunder, not football for the Cincinnati Bengals. Then he grew into his body and saw the gridiron as his calling.
“I really started excelling in the game of football,” Mayer said. “I started getting offers. I started going on visits. Things like that. I said, ‘Look. This is what’s best for me in my sports and athletic world. Let’s really dig into this, work on it and see what it takes to be a good tight end.”
Mayer’s family and friends saw him become one of the best in college history. Now they get to see him take the next step in his career.
“I wanted to enjoy it with them,” Mayer said. “I wanted to celebrate with them. That’s probably something I wouldn’t have been able to do in Kansas City.”
