Bolivar’s Briason Mays Makes it to the NFL, Signing with the San Francisco 49ers
Briason Mays, from Bolivar, Tennessee is heading to San Francisco to make his mark on the National Football League (NFL) gridiron. His agent, Philadelphia-based Marty Magid, negotiated the deal that led to the San Francisco 49ers inviting Briason to sign with the 49ers. There were several NFL teams that wanted Briason, but he and his agent felt the 49ers was a great fit.
“I think we cried all we can cry and Briason too. It is a moment that takes you back,” said Briason’s parents, Brian and Tina Mays. “To see what he has put in, all the work and all the passion he has had for the game, and where it has led him to. And all the struggles and the victories. It is special for us as parents, and we are extremely proud of him.”
Briason Mays (pronounced Bryson), a 2018 Bolivar Central High School (BCHS) graduate, played football throughout high school, and at the collegiate level from 2018 to 2021 at West Virginia, and later transferred to The University of Southern Mississippi in 2021. Years before playing at BCHS, Briason’s love of football began when he was younger and playing flag football. Both of his parents coached him at one time at that level and then his father for one year when Briason attended Bolivar Middle School.
“Tina and I both were his coaches. I deployed in 2009 and 2010 and he was playing flag football. I was doing a lot of training, so Tina took over the team and pretty much ran the team,” said Mr. Mays, “I think we had a strong assistant coach in him [Briason], and he knew and would call the plays even back then.”
“It was fun during those years when he was in flag. Briason was doing the X’s and O’s and I was just following his X’s and O’s,” said Mrs. Mays, who has learned a lot about the game of football over the years. “When we were at his college games, the moms would always be amazed that I knew what was coming or that I knew when a player was going to get sat down for the next week. I have just been around the game a long time.”
Briason is making plans now for his trip to San Francisco where he will attend rookie mini-camp that starts on Thursday, May 9, 2024. The 49ers are looking at Briason as either a center or guard. Briason will find out in August if he makes the 49ers 53-man roster.
“I enjoy playing football because of the friendships and the competitiveness of the game. It’s the last true team sport where everyone has to work together,” said Briason who is living what his father calls “every kid’s dream”.
“We always thought he had the mentality [to play football], but the physical aspect we did not know until after he developed as a high school player, and then as a college player. As we saw him develop there, he got the opportunities that the Lord provided for him,” said Mr. Mays. “We always tried to remain humble in that and not overstep our blessings. We knew there was some potential, but that was all in the Lord’s plan and . . . I think it still is . . . I know it is. The Lord blessed him with a lot of talent and ability, and a very sound mind, and a body to go with it. He is bigger than anybody else in our family and he has been blessed by that.”
Briason does not take his blessings for granted and in turn uses them to give back and help others. For years when Briason returned home for summer break from college, he conducted football camps for area youth at the Restoration Center in Bolivar. Recently during his spring break, he was asked by Northside High School assistant football coach Mark Fedor to help with its players, and Briason has been working with coach Rennard Woodmore, BCHS’ new football coach and assisting with those players.
Although football has been his focus, before the NFL draft, Briason was not certain how his football prospects would develop. He earned a bachelor’s in criminology and a minor in communications and is one test away from earning his master’s in criminal justice from The University of Southern Mississippi.
“We needed to make resumes for football and resumes for regular jobs. If football did not work out, he wanted to go to the CIA or TBI. Briason actually started doing the CIA process and had an appointment to go in and take the test but had to put it on hold. He was getting his ducks in a row,” said Mr. and Mrs. Mays.
Briason’s parents have supported him over the years by attending every one of his college games. They not only support their son, but the teams on which he has participated. They even attended games when Briason was not playing.
“We supported him by going to every game even when he wasn’t playing. That is just something we believed in doing. His first year when he was redshirted, we went to those games in West Virginia, every last one of them, even when he played against Arkansas State, when he got hurt. He didn’t play that next game and we still traveled to Texas. We supported him in that way, letting him know that no matter what we supported him,” said his parents.
Briason Mays’ Photo Gallery
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It has been a lot of weekends going up and down the highway as well as a financial investment. Earlier this year, Briason attended a football camp in Pennsylvania from January to March to prepare him for his Pro Day that was held at The University of Southern Mississippi in March, so he could be seen by scouts. His numbers he put out on the drills could not be ignored. Brian and Tina Mays have made a great effort for Briason to reach his football dreams.
“He just wants to play. That is what he loves to do. That is where his heart is at. He has represented our family, his community, and Hardeman County extremely well, we think in all aspects. We think he is a great young man, one of the best human beings,” said the Mays who shared how the community can support Braison on this next step in his football career. “Be praying for him. He has always been proud of Bolivar and Hardeman County and has represented it well. Just be pulling for him and praying for him.”
Briason shared a comment about what he is looking forward to with this new opportunity.
“I look forward to competing at the highest level and trying to earn a roster spot,” said Briason Mays. “I look forward to the challenge and am embracing the culture of the 49ers!”
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