By Jordyn J. Bennett
When you play football for Imhotep Charter High School (Philadelphia), the pressure to land a Division I offer is always on. Imhotep has been sending Philly kids to some of the top universities around the country for the past several years, seeing athletes ranked on the ESPN 300. While The Tep gets the well deserved notoriety, college hopefuls like rising senior Mysir Mayo have to work a little bit harder for their respect.
At 6’1”, 265 lbs, Mayo is a force on the defensive line. A defensive end by trait, Mayo has the skillset to move from the outside of the line to the interior. His 4.8 40-yard dash allows him to slide by offensive tackles on the edge; his strength matched with that speed turns him into a bulldozer when bursting through the middle.
It’s what college coaches love about him, and one of the reasons why St. Francis University was the first school to give him a college offer.
“Me going to Imhotep, it’s a lot of young Power 5 talent,” he said. “I see all of these (Class of) 24 kids, 25 kids getting all these big Power 5 offers and I’m just thinking, ‘when is it going to be my turn?’ I just had to wait my turn, keep working, keep my head down and my time came.”
The relationship between Mayo and St. Francis began on Twitter when he was contacted by SFU defensive line coach Thomas Rogish. The defensive end was able to put his skills on display in front of Rogish at Imhotep’s athlete showcase in May, and later at one of Saint Francis’ summer camps in June.
When they saw how fast he moved, they knew he was Red Flash material.
“What (coaches) mostly talk about with me, the best part of my game is my get off,” he said. “I can get off the ball really fast.”
There is no coincidence that the Red Flash’s want to see a speedster on their defensive line, but they won’t be the only one’s seeking Mayo’s help with a full summer and his senior year ahead of him.
The University of Delaware and Monmouth University have also been in contact with the upperclassmen. Traveling to a number of camps with his team throughout the summer, that is just the tip of the iceberg, already attending camps at Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers and West Virginia.
For Mayo, he believes it will all play out in his favor as long as he does on
e thing: WORK.
“(I’ll) just keep working, and once the season comes, all the work is gonna show.”
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