When Cade Mays first stepped foot on the field for Georgia he immediately proved how good he was to the Bulldog Nation. It was in the second game of the season when Georgia was playing at South Carolina, and starting left tackle Andrew Thomas went down with an injury.
Head coach Kirby Smart started calling his name, and he realized that this was his moment. Before he could step foot on the field Mays actually had to switch jerseys.
“I was actually wearing number 42 during that game, I was supposed to be the tight end, the extra big guy. Then I heard Coach Smart, yelling ‘Cade, Cade, Cade.’ They gave me this big jersey to put on, and I had to run out and tell the ref I was checking in with a new jersey,” said Cade Mays.
The next week Mays started and was back against Missouri when Thomas re-injured his ankle. At this point in the 2018 season, Mays started to become the glue that held the offensive line together. Last season he played in 11 games as a freshman, but then missed 3 games due to a shoulder injury.
Through this fall camp, Mays has been practicing at right guard, center and left tackle. He is a very versatile player, and it is expected that he and Ben Cleveland will take turns rotating in and out at right guard.
“I like being that useful if anything happens, I’m the guy that can be plugged in,” said Cade Mays. “It has helped knowing the center spot and learning the offense and what everyone is doing.“
Mays, a Knoxville, TN native, knows the grind of what it takes to be a good football player. His father, Kevin Mays, was a Tennessee Volunteer legend. Cade will get to compete against his little brother Cooper Mays who committed to Tennessee. At first, Cade was committed to the Volunteers but then decided to flip his decision and commit to Georgia. He received a lot of backlash on social media for his decision.
“It definitely was hard. I was getting all this hate, but I was doing something for me,” said Cade Mays. “My parents told me it doesn’t really matter what the outside world thinks, my family loves me, and my God loves me.”
Mays, who is 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Through the next few practices, we shall see who gets the start at right guard, but if Cleveland beats Mays out there will definitely be another opportunity for him to find playing team.
You can watch Cade Mays‘ full post-practice interview from Tuesday by clicking on the video below.