[1] He played college football at North Dakota State and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft.

Mays also played for the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.

On August 2, 2009, the starting linebacker for the Eagles, Stewart Bradley, suffered a season-ending torn ACL during training camp.

[3] At subsequent Eagles practices, Mays was promoted to Bradley's position, middle linebacker, although Omar Gaither beat him out for the job.

[8] Due to an injury suffered in the Chiefs final preseason game, Mays was placed on injured reserve with a designated for return tag,[9] and was activated on November 8, 2014.