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Raiders finally end NFL Draft waiting game for Irish TE Michael Mayer

Michael Mayer becomes Notre Dame's 11th straight starting tight end to be drafted into the NFL.
Michael Mayer becomes Notre Dame's 11th straight starting tight end to be drafted into the NFL. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

Michael Mayer was already 13 games into his Notre Dame football career when Marcus Freeman had his first opportunity to see the burgeoning college tight end in practice for the first time.

“I keep telling him, ‘Man, come on to the dark side.’” Freeman said two springs ago as ND’s first-year defensive coordinator, speaking on his would-be defensive end project.

“I don’t think [offensive coordinator] Tommy [Rees] is going to let that happen. God, he is a great football player. And the best part about it is we have him for two more years.”

Freeman actually got to spend those two years as Mayer’s head coach before the most prolific tight end in Notre Dame history opted out of his final college game as well as his senior year of eligibility, and entered the 2023 NFL Draft.

Then came the waiting game.

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It ended in four picks into Friday's second round with the 6-5, 250-pound Independence, Ky., product being selected by the Las Vegas Raiders. He was the 35th pick overall.

The Raiders traded up to get Mayer, dealing the Indianapolis Colts a third-round pick (38th) and a fifth-round pick (141st) to make the Irish tight end the franchise's 10th pick ever from ND. That includes fellow Irish All-America tight end Dave Casper.

"A couple of weeks ago I was sitting with my parents, sitting with my agent," Mayer told the media Friday night in a Zoom interview. "And it’s kind of like you’ve done everything you need to do. You controlled the controllables. So, at this point you need to relax, enjoy it and whoever takes you, takes you. There’s nothing else you can do. And that was kind of my mindset.

"It’s awesome that I ended up in this organization’s lap. I’m very excited for it and I’m very happy for it."

The 2022 consensus All-American was the third tight end off the board, following Utah's Dalton Kincaid, who went to the Buffalo Bills with the 25th pick in Thursday's first round, and Iowa's Sam LaPorta, in the second round with pick No. 34 overall to the Detroit Lions.

Nine tight ends were selected through the first three rounds of the draft, the most since 1967.

"The fact that he was still there [at No. 35] was a very exciting moment for us," Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler said. "He was one of the top 15 players on our board just in totality. To be able to get a guy like Michael, tight end, good size – unique thing about him is his short-area quickness.

"He's a bigger guy but he still has, when you watch the tape, the ability to win in a short area. He can win on third down, use his size in the red zone. Excellent traits, very smart."

Mayer is the 22nd true junior from Notre Dame to enter the draft since the league first opened its doors to underclassmen in 1989 and the 10th to land in the second round. The four first-rounders were Jerome Bettis, Tom Carter, Will Fuller and Kyle Hamilton.

Teammate Isaiah Foskey, an All-America defensive end and ND’s all-time sack leader, was selected five picks after Mayer on Friday night, heading to the New Orleans Saints.

Offensive guard/center Jarrett Patterson is also expected to be selected during the three-day, seven-round draft. A handful of other hopefuls, including safety Brandon Joseph and defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola, are among those possibly in play in the late rounds.

Rounds 4-7 unfold Saturday (noon EDT).

The last and only time Mayer has played in the Raiders' facility, Allegiant Stadium, he set the Notre Dame single-game record for receptions (11) for a season-high 118 yards and two touchdowns. That came in a 28-20 win over BYU on Oct. 8 in ND's Shamrock Series game.

"I don’t know if you guys saw it, but we had a little pre video to that Shamrock Series game," Mayer said, "when we out to Vegas to make that with the Bentley car and coach [Marcus] Freeman. That was actually my first time in Vegas, my first experience trying to be an actor. That was cool.

"That was the first time I got to see the city, drive around. I was with coach Freeman and a couple of my teammates, which was really, really fun. ... I’m excited to be a Raider, and I’m ready to get this thing started."

Mayer has a clear lane to compete for playing time with the Raiders having traded incumbent starter Darren Waller last month to the New York Giants. Jimmy Garoppollo is the Raiders' new QB1, signing as a free agent last month.

Three former Irish players are already on the Vegas roster — offensive lineman Alex Bars, safety Jalen Elliott and defensive lineman Jerry Tillery.

Head coach Josh McDaniels has crated some of the most tight end-friendly offenses during his NFL coaching career.

"Wherever coach McDaniels puts me, I’ll be ready for it," Mayer said. "I’m going to do what he asks me to do, whether it’s first, second or third down.

"I’m excited to be in this type of scheme. I’m excited to have one of the best coaches in the NFL. And after that I’m excited to play ball."

No school has produced more NFL Draft selections at the tight end position than Notre Dame’s now 26. That includes each of the last 11 starting tight ends for the Irish, with Anthony Fasano starting that streak in the 2006 draft.

John Carlson, Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert, Troy Niklas, Ben Koyack, Durham Smythe, Alizé Mack, Cole Kmet and Tommy Tremble followed. Only Eifert among them — with the 21st pick of the first round in 2013 — was drafted earlier.

Mayer's career totals at Notre Dame were 180 catches for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns — and surpassed all of theirs and stand as school records. And he amassed those in three seasons.

"I like to put people in the dirt and I like to run over people," Mayer said. "Football’s my life now. I’m working on football now and just trying to get better at football every day."

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