April 17, 2018
Derrick Mayes (’96), an All-America wide receiver at Notre Dame and Super Bowl champion with the Green Bay Packers, will be the featured alumni speaker at the Monogram Club’s Spring Monogram Jacket Ceremony on April 24. The event will be held inside Club Naimoli at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
The ceremony will feature first-time Monogram winners from Notre Dame’s fall sports, along with student managers, athletic trainers, video technicians and cheerleaders, receiving their Monogram jackets in front of family, friends, teammates, coaches and administrators.
Paige Crowley, a senior defender on the Notre Dame women’s soccer team, will give the student-athlete reflection to conclude the ceremony. Crowley will be among the nearly 70 individuals who will receive their Monogram jacket that evening. Crowley, a native of Los Gatos, Calif., will graduate in May with degrees in information technology management and economics. Crowley’s father, Michael (‘85), brother, Patrick (’14, basketball) and sister, Meaghan (’11), are Notre Dame graduates. Paige and her siblings are the fifth generation of her family to attend Notre Dame.
Notre Dame Senior Associate Athletics Director Jill Bodensteiner (’91, ‘08) will also take to the podium that evening to speak on behalf of the Notre Dame athletics department. Bodensteiner joined the department in 2009 and has worked in areas of compliance, policy management and legal affairs, while also serving as the sport administrator for the women’s basketball program. Prior to that, she spent 12 years with the Notre Dame Office of the General Counsel. Bodensteiner recently was named director of athletics at Saint Joseph’s University. She will assume that role June 1.
ABOUT DERRICK MAYES
Derrick Mayes has unique experience at the highest level of sports, entertainment and business. He spent over five years in the NFL and since retiring from the league, Mayes has worked in all aspects of film & television, corporate and philanthropy.
Under the tutelage of Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz, an honorary Monogram Club member, at Notre Dame, Mayes concluded his Fighting Irish career as the school’s all-time leading receiver. Mayes, a four-time Monogram winner, helped the program compile a 36-10-2 record from 1992-95. In the Notre Dame record books, he currently ranks tied for fourth in career receiving yards (2,512), tied for fifth in both career touchdowns (22) and 100-yard receiving games (9). Mayes was a team captain during his senior season in 1995, which featured him receiving second-team All-America honors and collecting his second Monogram Club Team MVP Award. Mayes, originally from Indianapolis, Ind., graduated from Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters in 1996 with a degree in communication and theatre. The Green Bay Packers selected Mayes in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played three seasons with the Packers, including their Super Bowl-winning campaign during his rookie season in 1996. Mayes went on to play two seasons (1999-2000) for the Seattle Seahawks before retiring from the NFL in 2001.
Upon retirement from professional football, Mayes began his sports entertainment career hosting CSTV’s weekly series “Notre Dame Primetime,” along with appearing on ESPN’s “Cold Pizza,” and FOX’s “Best Damn Sports Show.” He went on to direct BET Network’s first original TV series and was producer for the nationally syndicated TV series, “Irish Weekly”.
In 2006, Mayes moved into the security world and was appointed Director & CEO of Executive Action Sports & Entertainment. The Washington, D.C.-based company served high profile clients wherever the US Passport traveled.
Athletic accolades returned in 2012, when Mayes was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the North Central High School Hall of Fame.
Husband, and father of one, Mayes and his wife are founding parents of City Language Immersion Charter School in Los Angeles. He also serves on the board of directors for the Lou’s Lads Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and supporting the legacy of Coach Lou Holtz and his players through financial support for Notre Dame students and other charitable works. Mayes currently lives in Los Angeles and is Vice President of WME/IMG and the Co-Founder of 5.0 Communications. Now a 10-year veteran problem solver, Mayes has served as executive and strategic advisor to some of the most-high profile individuals, groups, and organizations in the sports and entertainment industry.
ABOUT THE MONOGRAM JACKET CEREMONY
The Monogram Jacket Ceremony was established in 2008 as a way to honor first-time Monogram winners. Monograms are presented to student-athletes from all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame plus managers, athletic trainers, cheerleaders, video technicians and honorary recipients. The spring event recognizes student-athletes and support staff from the fall sports, while the fall ceremony honors the winter and spring sports.
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