Sports
New Panthers LB David Mayo Goes from Shed to NFL
David Newton, ESPN
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ESPN) — New Carolina Panthers linebacker David Mayo literally has gone from the outhouse to the penthouse.
That is, if you consider living in a shed for a year while playing at Santa Monica (California) College the outhouse and being selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft the penthouse.
Yes, a shed.
Mayo couldn’t afford a traditional apartment because the cost of living was so high in West Los Angeles. So in 2011 a woman rented him a spot in the shed behind her house — for $450 a month.
There was no electricity, plumbing or insulation. It was just four walls with a concrete floor. For furnishings, Mayo had a bed and an ottoman. He worked at a church within walking distance to help pay the bills.
“I ran an extension cord from the house out to the shed so I could power my computer, power my phone at night, and a lamp and a heater in the winter,” Mayo said on Saturday after the Panthers selected him with one of their two compensatory picks.
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