A Conversation With Taylor Mays

Highly touted out of USC and hero to him home town of Seattle, Taylor Mays is a highly coveted prospect in this year’s NFL draft.

And we got him! He came on the show today to talk about everything from the combine to his time with Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, at USC.

Here are the nuggets you don’t want to miss:

On His Workouts: “I’m about to get a dungeon…I get some hydrochloric acid, and I put it in a big tub and do pullups underneath it.” Seriously though, how many pullups can he do at once? “Probably about 20.”

On Why He Went Back to USC for Another Year: “I just like football and I like to play. I’m a fan of football and it’s really important to me to get the most out of everything – I wanted to play college football and get the most out of it. I wanted to get better at it with the coaches I’d been working with to finish off this thing at USC that I started four years ago.”

On Whether He Could Have Played in the NFL Last Year: “Yes, I know physically I could have – I would have had to make that mental transition too. but I knew that taking one more year, I would’ve been able to make that mental transition, maybe, a lot easier. That’s really why I came back – to learn the game and further myself mentally as a football player.”

On His 40 Time at The Combine: “That was wrong. I don’t agree with that. I put a lot of time and effort into running fast and people always remember what you run at the combine in the 40. I’m a competitor and I have a really hard time believing that eight other players ran faster 40’s than me. I don’t know if 4.24 should be official, but I know not 4.43.”

On Pete Carroll Leaving USC: “I was actually very shocked. You associate USC and you associate LA with Coach Carroll’s face. Not having him there seems weird. But, you have to look at it – Coach Carroll is his own person…even if I would’ve come back last year and he would’ve left, I still would’ve supported him.”

On Playing for Carroll in the NFL: “I’m sure it would be a different relationship and I’m sure he would treat me differently than he did in college. I think it’s a different business, and I think I would understand it, or I would learn to understand it…and I think he would relay that to me. I would love to play for him – in Seattle or somewhere else. That would be a blessing.”

On Whether He Would Have Stayed Last Year Without Pete Carroll: “That might have been different. Because then, it kind of takes away from coming back to learn from somebody that I trust and respect and knows what he’s talking about with the game of football – and that’s the reason I came back: to learn and get better.”

On Dealing With Criticism: “What’s frustrating about it is, you put a lot of time and effort and hard work into one thing, and you devote your life to one thing; it’s hard to have somebody tell you differently when you’ve given all your effort. At the same time, people are going to say what people are going to say. You kinda just have to have strong skin.”

On Having a Chip on His Shoulder: “I have a chip on my shoulder regardless, not necessarily to prove people wrong, because I don’t feel like I have to prove anybody anything except for myself, my family, my teammates and my coaches. But, I want to be respected.”

Would He Be A Husky if Sark Was at UW When He Was Recruited: “Uh…it would’ve been different. You know what though, I like Coach Sark a lot…but I’m not an offensive player – that would have made more sense. But I’m a defensive guy and that’s why I went with Coach Carroll as USC.”

On What Music He Pumps Up To: “Taylor Swift.” We’re pretty convinced he was messing with us at that point.

You can catch the whole interview right here.

Would you want him on the Seahawks? Should Pete Carroll take him because he knows him so well? Your thoughts are welcome below.