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.
[3] Mayes was selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 1969 NFL/AFL 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.
He proceeded to become a perennial starter at offensive left tackle for eight seasons with the Bengals.
[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.