David Mayo, From Texas State to Super Bowl

Adam Byerly
Sports Reporter

Who would have thought that in 2012 the new sophomore transfer from Santa Monica University would now be in the super bowl with the Carolina Panthers? Texas State Alum David Mayo did just that in his NFL rookie season. He played three seasons for the Bobcats before graduating in 2015 and being selected as the 169th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Panthers.

Being ranked as a 2-star player by scout.com, Mayo started his college career at Santa Monica. There he was named as an All-Pacific conference player as a freshman and helped lead them to a championship with 68 tackles.

In 2012, Linebacker Mayo joined the Bobcats defense and immediately made an impact on the team. He recorded 22 tackles in 7 games in his sophomore season and first with Texas State. Then he recorded 63 tackles in 9 games in his junior season. Followed by a career high 72 tackle senior season and named Sun Belt Defensive player of the year in 2014.

Currently David Mayo is the third string middle linebacker on the Panthers depth chart, behind former AP Defensive Player of the year Luke Kuechly, and veteran Ben Jacobs.

Mayo played in all of the Panthers preseason games and appeared in 12 games in the regular season. Mayo also saw time on the field during both of Carolina’s playoff victories.

The Bobcat alum has seen most of his playing time on the Panthers special teams unit, covering kick-offs and punt returns. However with Thomas Davis expected to play with a broken forearm, the Panthers may be one injury away from Mayo seeing more snaps, in Super Bowl 50, on defense.

Mayo was picked in the 6th round of the NFL Draft, and got to see the field in 12 games in 2015, recording 9 tackles. Carolina plays Denver on Sunday at 5:30p.m., in San Fransisco, for the NFL title.