Mecklenburg...Jackson...Mayo?

It's been a busy week on this side of the world.  There's been a lot of football news this week and I haven't had a chance to review it all, until now.  First and most importantly for this blog, Old Dominion University had a football alum sign an NFL contract for the first time.  It was announced Tuesday that Deron Mayo signed a contract with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted rookie free agent. 

Deron, the younger brother of New England's Jerod Mayo, is already behind the eight ball - he's an undrafted rookie free agent who must learn a playbook in the shortest NFL training camp in a long time.  He's also listed at 5-11 and 220 pounds, which is on the lighter side for NFL linebacker standards.  His best bet is to earn a roster spot as a special teams contributer.  But no matter how he performs in camp, we're proud of Deron's accomplishments!

A former standout at Hofstra, Mayo (#5) was a captain for Old Dominion in his one season with the Monarchs.

There were several other CAA players who signed contracts as undrafted free agents when the signings began on Tuesday.  You can read a list of the players from FCS and lower-division schools here.  The other CAA player I wanted to specifically mention was Pat Devlin of Delaware.  I got to watch the Blue Hens play GSU in the FCS semifinals last season in person (and a few other games on TV), and this guy impressed me with his decision-making.  You can see him read through his progressions on passing plays.  There are questions about his arm strength but he shouldn't have issues with inclement weather in Miami.

Pat Devlin can read defenses, but does he have the arm strength for the NFL?

Wednesday was the CAA Football Media Day for the upcoming season.  The event was covered on ESPN3.com, a first for an FCS conference.  The CAA Football Blog had a live chat during the event whereby fans were given the chance to interact with each other and the blog's administrators.  William and Mary was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference; Old Dominion was picked tenth out of eleven teams, beating out Towson for last place. 

During Media Day, the conference announced that 28 games involving CAA teams will be broadcast on television.  This represents the best television package among FCS conferences.  You'll get to watch Old Dominion at Georgia State (9/10), at Delaware (9/24) and home against James Madison (10/29) at the Oyster Bowl. 

Lastly, the FCS Roundtable on SaturdayBlitz.com discussed the topic of the favorites to win the national title this season.  If you're a fan of Georgia Southern, William and Mary or James Madison, you'll enjoy my post.  You can expect to see me write more as our busy season winds down, plus I may soon be writing for a favorite fan forum in an official capacity.  For which forum would that be?  Stay tuned to find out!