Michael Mayer cites Kevin Durant, Rob Gronkowski as inspiration

Notre Dame‘s Michael Mayer established himself as one of the nation’s top tight ends last season, and he recently sat down with ESPN’s Holly Rowe for an interview. In the interview, fans got to know Mayer a lot better, including getting to know who his favorite basketball player is.

“So Kevin Durant was, I had a fathead of Kevin Durant growing up with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So I had a fathead, I was big Serge Ibaka, Russ Westbrook, like that team was like my team. That was when I was huge into basketball, that’s kind of grown away from me a little bit, but I don’t watch basketball as much as I used to, but that was my team,” Mayer said.

Durant may have been Mayer’s childhood hero, but he grew to become a fan of one of the best tight ends of all time. At Notre Dame Mayer was given the nickname Baby Gronk, after former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski. Rowe asked Mayer about the nickname and who his favorite tight end is.

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“I think freshman year that nickname started coming out, I don’t know Gronk is just, I can’t not say Gronk. Right when I started playing tight end my freshman year in high school realized alright, maybe I can go to college for this whatever, that was kind of Gronk in his prime just balling with Brady. And that’s kind of how I want to be when I get to the NFL, so I can’t not say Gronk, so I gotta say Gronk,” Mayer said.

Mayer channeled his inner Gronk last season for the Fighting Irish, leading the team in receptions with 71 and tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with seven. Mayer also finished the season with 840 receiving yards, the fourth most yards among tight ends in the FBS, and finished within the top five of many other receiving stat categories for tight ends in the nation.

Mayer was named one of Notre Dame’s captains for the 2022 season, as he looks to lead the Irish to another 11-plus win season. Mayer is also one of the highest ranked prospects for the 2023 NFL Draft, with another breakout year surely securing him a spot on an NFL roster. Hopefully for Mayer, when he’s done playing on Saturdays, he can play on Sundays just like his tight end hero.