Mark Eric May is a former
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
offensive lineman in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He is currently a football analyst for
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
Football career
In his senior year at the
University of PittsburghPittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...
, May received the
Outland TrophyThe Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...
as the nation's top collegiate interior lineman. The university retired May's number (73) in 2001, and he was inducted into the
College Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 2005.
May was drafted with the 20th pick of the first round of the
1981 NFL DraftThe 1981 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981...
and played
guardIn American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
for the
Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. He was a member of the famed "
HogsThe Hogs was the nickname for the offensive line of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League during the 1980s and early 1990s. Renowned for their ability to control the line of scrimmage, the Hogs helped the Redskins win three Super Bowl championships under head coach Joe Gibbs...
" offensive line, which was instrumental in the Redskins' victories in Super Bowl
XVIISuper Bowl XVII was an American football game played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the strike-shortened 1982 regular season...
and
XXIISuper Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
(though May was injured for Super Bowl XVII). He was named one of the 70 greatest Redskins of all time.
Following his tenure with the Redskins, May played for the
San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1991) and Phoenix Cardinals (1992–93) before his retirement in 1993.
Broadcasting career
In 1995, May was hired by
TNTTurner Sports is the division of Turner Broadcasting System responsible for sports broadcasts on Turner channels including TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and for operating the interactive properties , , , and...
as a studio analyst on its
Sunday Night FootballThe NFL on TNT was the weekly United States television broadcast by Turner Network Television of Sunday evening National Football League games.-Sunday night games :...
broadcasts. In 1997, May became a game analyst for the
Sunday Night Football broadcasts on TNT. After TNT lost the broadcasting rights to
Sunday Night FootballSunday Night Football is a weekly American football game held throughout most of the season by the National Football League. Sunday night games have been played regularly since 1987 and have thus far aired on three different television outlets:...
following the 1997 season, May joined
CBS SportsCBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
in 1998 as a game analyst for its
NFLThe NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
coverage from 1998–2000.
In 2001, May joined
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
as a football analyst and commentator on college football. Along with
Lou HoltzLouis Leo "Lou" Holtz is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker in the United States...
, he is currently a regular on the popular
College Football Scoreboard and
College Football FinalCollege Football Final is a one hour program totally devoted to college football and airs every Saturday night during the college football season. The official name is College Football Final driven by Pontiac. It was previously named College Gameday Final until 2006...
as well as appearing on pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage during the season, and on
College Football LiveCollege Football Live is a show that airs weekdays on ESPN or ESPN2, and ESPNU. Its premiere was on Monday, July 23, 2007. Rece Davis is the lead host, but it also features ESPN college football analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Desmond Howard, Bob Griese, and others...
in the off-season, and offers analysis on
ESPN2ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
and
ESPNewsESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
. He was also present in the
NFL LiveNFL Live is a National Football League studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m and 12:30 a.m ET on the ESPN cable network. Formerly known as NFL 2Night, the program is the only NFL-related studio program to air during the week...
studio throughout the entire
2007 NFL DraftThe 2007 National Football League Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so...
.
In 2005, he wrote
Mark May's Tales from the Washington Redskins, a book detailing his experiences with the Washington Redskins.
External links