Notre Dame's Michael Mayer prepares for the 2023 NFL draft pt 2
SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Michael Mayer set to hear his name called in round one of the 2023 NFL draft, after breaking every record for a tight-end in three years at Notre Dame.
Mayer had an outstanding career at Notre Dame.
During his time with the Irish, the Kentucky native hauled in 2,099 receiving yards on 180 receptions, with 18 touchdowns on the side.
Not to mention – he was an AP first team All-American in his third season.
On draft night, Mayer is projected to be off the board in the first round most likely to one of these three teams: The Los Angeles Chargers as a 21st overall pick, Dallas Cowboys at 26th, or the 28th overall pick to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Although Mayer stood out on the gridiron, football wasn’t always his first love.
“My first love of basketball was very early on. Man, had a hoop in the living room. My mom always tells me now that I'm a little bit older, she always had to yell at me and tell me to get that ball out of the living room because he was breaking things and lambs were going all over the place. I wear the number 87. Didn't really know anything about the position of tight end, much less football and I asked my coach at the time, what number should I wear? He said, you look like a tight end your pills like a tight end. Let's put 87 on there. Since my freshman year of college, everybody's been calling me baby Gronk got it around campus. Got it when I went home, got it all over Twitter, you know, but I'm trying to create a little bit of my own nickname,” Mayer said.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Mayer could be off the board as early as the 15th overall pick, belonging to the Green Bay Packers who traded tight end Robert Tonyan to the Chicago Bears in the offseason.
Notre Dame has the most draft picks of any school with 522 over the years, Mayer hopes to be 523.