Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers

Growing up just down the road from Senatobia in Independence, Marvin Mays was on the radar of the Ranger football team after being a standout three-sport athlete for the Wildcats. While he was a star in football, basketball, and track and field, it was the former that he truly excelled in, becoming an All-State and All-American while being named the team’s best defensive lineman.  

That brought Mays just west of his hometown, where he signed to play for Bobby Franklin and the Northwest football team in 1989, becoming an All-State and All-Region selection as a freshman on a team that went 12-1, winning the MACCC and finishing 5th in the national polls after defeating Kilgore College 31-27 in the Shrine Bowl.  

After stepping away from school for personal reasons in 1990, Mays returned to don the red and blue of Northwest in 1991, where he had his best season at the collegiate level, earning All-State and All-Region honors and helping the Rangers to the 1991 National Championship game against Northeast Oklahoma A&M, eventually falling in the title game to the Golden Norseman 49-21 in the Mid-America Bowl, finishing the season 11-1-1 and ranked 3rd in the nation.  

Mays wrapped up his career in the record books and is still tied for fifth all-time in career forced fumbles and is fourth in the same category for a single season, forcing eight in the 1991 campaign, showing off his dominance on the line.  

After originally signing to play for the Ole Miss Rebels in the 1992 season after he wrapped up his career with the Rangers, Mays reconsidered and instead ended up at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he would play two seasons for the Savage Storm, earning All-State and All-American honors and establishing himself as one of the premier defensive players in the region. 

That would eventually catch the eye of scouts in the professional football world, resulting in Mays signing on as a Dallas Cowboy in 1994 as a free agent. After a year in the Cowboys organization, Mays would move on to the CFL, where he played for the Ontario Rough Riders in 1995, before returning to the States to play for the Orlando Predators.  

It was after a year with the Predators that Mays moved on from his professional football career, returning to Mississippi, where he used the skills of teamwork, discipline, accountability, and leadership to advance in a career focused on logistics and operations management. Not only did he see success as a leader, but he also continued to be a role model for future generations, remaining active in community outreach and service efforts throughout North Mississippi.