Mays attended O'Dea High School, a Catholic boys high school located in Seattle, Washington's First Hill neighborhood in the 98104 zip code. Before playing football, Mays joined the track & field team to work on his speed. As a sophomore at O'Dea in 2004, Mays won both the 100-meter dash (10.54 s) and 200-meter dash (21.64 s) titles in the 3A State championships in the spring of 2004 before leaving track behind after his junior year to dedicate his last year in high school to prepare for football at the next level.