KNOXVILLE — Jerod Mayo is just like the rest of the other former University of Tennessee football players in the NFL.
When he sees former Volunteers doing well as pros, he puffs his own chest out a little bit.
“That sense of pride always comes out when you see Vols doing good in the NFL,” the New England linebacker said on a conference call this past week.
“That pride factor really gets boosted. You’re proud to wear that orange and white around the locker room and things like that. That big orange ‘T’ is really doing well.”
Mayo is a big reason it’s doing well. In just his third season after being drafted 10th overall by the Patriots in 2008, he led the NFL in tackles, earned his first Pro Bowl selection and helped New England take the top AFC seed in the playoffs. The Patriots host the New York Jets today.