Michael Mayer Talks His NFL Draft Process, Notre Dame Career and Personal Relationships
Michael Mayer came to Notre Dame with a lot of expectations out of Covington Catholic in Kentucky, sitting as a consensus top 100 recruit by every major recruiting service. To say he met every expectation would be a massive understatement. He left South Bend as arguably the greatest tight end to ever dawn the blue and gold at a school that has developed the position as well as anyone historically.
The Irish star comes into the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine with the inside track to potentially be the first tight end selected come April. On Friday, Mayer was available for questions from the media.
Here are some of the questions that Mayer was asked during the availability.
Mayer on the pressure as the top tight end in the class:
“I don’t think of it as pressure. All I am trying to do here is play my best ball, show these teams my personality, how intense I am about the game of football and there is no pressure to this. It is about coming out here, playing my best ball, being the best person I can be just like I did the last three years at Notre Dame and just keep doing that.”
Mayer on his best attribute as a player:
“I say my receiving. Look, I can block anybody that you need me to block but I feel like my redzone, my third down, I can go up and get that ball. I can make contested catches and can really route people up I feel like. I can have that connection with that quarterback also. He knows where I am going to be, how I am going to run my route and I know where that quarterback is going to be putting that ball.”
Mayer on running a 4.70 forty yard dash like TJ Hockenson:
“We will see. We will find out.”
Mayer on a player he compares to:
“I have to go with another 87 man, Travis Kelce. The way he runs his routes, the way he does his thing, it is like no other. It is expanding the tight end game greatly so I have to go with Travis. I got to meet him last summer. He is a great guy and just to get to watch film on him, to see how he plays his game, he is amazing at the tight end position and is doing great things for the position as well.”
Mayer on his biggest takeaway from his Notre Dame career:
“My greatest takeaway would probably be my leadership. I was a captain last year and we started out 0-2. We didn’t really know what to do, the captains all asked what we needed to change and the answer was we aren’t going to change anything. We are going to stick to our standard, stick to our execution, same amount of periods everyday and we are just going to keep working hard. We are going to keep a positive mindset. We are going to positively communicate and nobody is going to walk into this facility hanging their head, nobody is going to complain, things like that. That is what we did. We kind of turned the season around and I feel like we had a pretty positive season.”
Mayer on his order of Travis Kelce, Rob Gronkowski and Tony Gonzalez as players:
“Oh gosh. Right now in the present, I would go Travis Kelce at one, I would say Gronk at two and Tony Gonzalez I never even really got to watch. I obviously got to watch Travis Kelce and Gronk a lot so I guess I would put him at three. I know Tony was a baller and I know he did his thing for the tight end position.”
Mayer on what he could bring to a team:
“I am going in there and being myself. I am intense about the game of football. I love the game of football so for me, it is about going in there and not trying to be a fake person, not trying to be anybody else, explaining how I play the game of football, how I attack the game of football, how I prepare for the game of football, things like that. It has all been about just being myself and showing these coaches, showing these scouts how much I love football and how much I prepare for the game of football.”
Mayer on his meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals:
“It went well. I think it went very well. I am trying to go into these meetings and show these coaches what type of person I am. I love the game of football. I love to attack the game of football and all these formal meetings I believe have been going very well for me.”
Mayer on feedback he has received from NFL teams:
“I have to work on my blocking technique, there is no doubt about that. I feel like this past year, it is something I took a jump on. I started working on it way more than I had during my freshman and sophomore year at the University of Notre Dame. It is about keep getting better. It is going to keep getting better. I am going to keep learning things from veterans. I am going to keep learning things from coaches who have been around the game for twenty to thirty years. At this point, it is about blocking.”
Mayer on his meeting with the Buffalo Bills:
“I have. The Bills are a great organization. They obviously have one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now with Josh Allen. Like I said before, it is about keep being myself, showing these coaches what kind of person I am and whether it fits their culture and their team. That is what I have been doing. I think it went very well.”
Mayer on Bills tight end Dawson Knox:
“I have watched him for sure, great player. He is a big red zone threat. I think he is a great player and it would be cool to play with him. It would be cool to go against him as well.”
Mayer on if he met with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his thoughts on them:
“I have. It was formal. They have a great coaching staff, man. It goes back to what I said before. It is about showing them what type of person I am. Does it fit their culture? Does it fit their people? Does it fit with their standard and what they are trying to make there with their program?”
Mayer on playing in a Tommy Rees’ offense:
“It is exciting, man. He finds ways to get you open, there is no doubt about that. There were a million different ways that he got me open over the past three years. From slips, overs, shallows, this past year I really started going down the field more with the ball coming my way past twenty or thirty yards. He can do that too. We had a great offense this past year and turned it around after that slow start.”
Mayer on coaching changes this past off-season:
“I got a new tight ends coach also by the name of Coach (Gerad) Parker. Great guy, he knows a ton about the game of football. He actually just got promoted to offensive coordinator at Notre Dame. It was really cool for me to be able to spend one year with him, have a little bit of success, and for him to have the success to go and become the offensive coordinator. With Coach (Marcus) Freeman, it was awesome. It is not easy coming in like that as a first year head coach, going through two quarterbacks in a season and having the first one having the first quarterback coming back to play in the bowl game. It was cool to be able to go to those captains' meetings with him. He is a great guy and a great leader. He was the defensive coordinator before he became the head coach and he can lead, there is no doubt about that. He attacks with a positive mindset every day. You will never see much negative stuff coming out of his mouth. It was really great to see how he thinks.”
Mayer on the potential of player with Joe Burrow:
“It would be awesome. Joe Burrow throwing me that ball, look he is a national champion. He has taken his team to the super bowl. I am trying to win games when I get to the NFL. I want to help win ball games and win a super bowl. Growing up fifteen minutes from Who Dey Stadium, it would be awesome. There is no doubt about that.”
Mayer on his ability to be durable:
“It is an advantage for sure. My past three years, I missed one game total from a strained groin. To be available like that is fantastic. Staying injury free, playing my game the way I want to play my game, I just feel like that is what I have to keep going.”
Mayer on former teammates who have helped him this process:
“When I came in as a freshman, there was a really good tight end by the name of Tommy Tremble who plays with the Carolina Panthers now, that is my guy. I talked with him a little bit. I face timed with him a little bit to just ask general questions. He would ask how were the meetings? How were the informal meetings? What did you do to prepare?... things like that. He helped me out tremendously. That is my guy. I text him whenever I want. I can call him whenever I want and provide any type of feedback. It has been great to have him in my pocket. Brock Wright, who is also playing with the Detroit Lions right now, was there when I was a freshman too. What the University of Notre Dame is about is players like that helping out. When I get to the league, anybody on the team can call me. They know that. I am going to help them out too. That is what Notre Dame is about.”
Mayer on if he has met former Notre Dame star Dave Casper:
“I met him once. The one thing he told me was to network at Notre Dame as much as possible at Notre Dame. That was his advice. He was a great guy. It was great to meet him at dinner.”
Mayer on his relationship with Cole Kmet:
“I have a great relationship. He is signed to Athletes First and so am I. We have been around each other. We know the same people. We had a great time at TEU in Nashville this past summer. He is just another one of those Notre Dame guys. It would be sweet (to play with him). That dude is a great player. He knows how to block. He knows how to receive. At this point it is not about me citing all the players it would be cool to play with, it is about what team wants me and going out and playing my best ball. That is what this is about.”
Mayer on roles he can play for a team:
“I think I can do anything that any team asks me to do. I can be in the backfield and block. I can be a fullback. I can be attacked. I can be out by the numbers. I can be in the slot and run routes. I can do it all. That is really how I feel and I think there are a lot of teams here who believe the same thing.”
Mayer on where his competitiveness comes from:
“I have a little bit of a joke and tell people it is just how I was born. I just grew up like this. My intensity with sports, I grew up playing basketball too and I have always had it. I guess you can call it controlled aggression or controlled madness. I love the game of football and I don’t try to change for anybody. I attack the game of football like I do anything else in life. I had two great parents who raised me learning about respect and dignity. I have kind of taken life things and taken football things and combined them for four to five years and it has been working for me.”
Mayer on his favorite route:
“My favorite route has got to be a sail route against man. I don’t believe that there is anyone who can cover me in man on a sail route. It is definitely one of my favorite routes.”
Mayer on Coach Parker’s approach to improve his blocking:
“It was details. I think it was coming in and really seeing where my feet should go, where my hands should go, instead of just saying that getting in front of the guy was good enough. I think it was about needing to fix the finer points in your routes, taking a couple more steps to get proper depth. We have really, really been focusing on details in the tight end room this past year.”
Mayer on how he believes Coach Parker will translate as an offensive coordinator:
“I think it will translate tremendously. I think he knows a ton about the game of football. He has been around football a ton, and played in college. I am excited to see what they can do there. They have some weapons there, that is for sure. It is going to be fun watching them this next season.”
Mayer on improvements he’s made over the years:
“My leadership has gotten tremendously better. Coming in as a freshman, I learned about leadership from guys like Tommy Tremble and Brock Wright. Over the years, I have learned things but have put my own twist on them. It has been awesome to be a leader and learn from other great leaders.”
Mayer on his oldest NFL memory:
“I remember being a Bengals fan and remember Chad Ochocinco, TJ Houshmanzadeh and guys like that going out there, doing their thing, and having fun playing football. I just remember thinking that they look like they are having fun out there. That is what I am going to do, I am going to go out there play the best football I can and have fun doing it.”
Mayer on people’s concerns about his athleticism:
“I’m not worried about that. These teams know how I play football. They know I can play football. I know I can play football. I know what I can do. I am not worried about what anybody on the outside is saying at all.”
Mayer about when he transitioned to football from basketball:
“I think about eighth grade year, freshman year, I kind of pivoted from basketball to football. I got a bench press in my basement, started lifting and I lost my jump shot. I couldn’t shoot worth anything. I played football my freshman year, played middle linebacker and tight end. I just took off from there.”
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