Rueben Mayes

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Rueben Mayes
Date of birth	June 6, 1963
Place of birth	North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Position(s)	Running back
College	Washington State
NFL Draft	1986 / Round 3/ Pick 57
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	2
Awards	1986 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
Stats
Statistics	DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1986-1988, 1990 1992-1993	New Orleans Saints Seattle Seahawks

Rueben Mayes (born June 6, 1963 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian who played in the NFL from 1986 to 1993.

He first gained notoriety as a running back at North Battleford Comprehensive High School in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Mayes played for the Washington State University Cougars, where he became All-American and finished among the top 10 in Heisman Trophy balloting. Mayes set single-season and career-rushing records (1,632; 3,519 yards) with the Cougars, and established an NCAA record for most rushing yards in one game (357 vs. Oregon in 1984). That record remains the Pacific Ten Conference record.

He was drafted in the third round of the 1986 draft by the NFL's New Orleans Saints. He proceeded to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award that year. Although his NFL career was hampered by injuries, he was named to the Pro Bowl twice. Mayes played four seasons with the Saints before being traded to the Seattle Seahawks for the final two years of his career. Mayes, without benefits afforded promising young players in the U.S., excelled in a skill position among the best-trained football players in the world.

In his NFL career, he carried the ball 866 times for 3,484 yards. He scored 23 touchdowns. In 1995, a panel of experts commissioned by The Spokesman-Review named Mayes to the all-time WSU team. The honor was repeated in 1998 by Cougfan.com when it picked its list of the school's all-time greatest players.

After football, Mayes became active in efforts to better educate at-risk youth. He would later earn a master's degree and return to Washington State University as an administrator.

He is one of the only three Saskatchewan natives to make it to the NFL, the other two being Arnie Weinmeister and Jon Ryan.