The truth is I have no clue. (Not true! See below) For the longest time I heard he was from West Virginia, though I knew that to be false — he’s from McKees Rocks, which at one time was very popular on the St. John’s campus.

Anyhow, for some odd reason I was long intrigued by the late Billy Mays and kind of followed things he did and said. His life really was quite a story and it’s downright sad to see it end when it did, when a guy who’d fought to be successful at something had reached an iconic status in an obscure trade almost by accident. So I read a lot about his life and far-too-early death — that’s another thing that happened when I was gone … famous people died — and kept hearing about his affiliation not with West Virginia, but with WVU.

Born William D. Mays in Mc­Kees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, he played football at West Virginia Universityand helped with his father’s waste-hauling business. A trip with a friend to Atlantic City, N.J., in 1983 led him to try selling products on the boardwalk, learning how to work a crowd from the old school barkers who filled that walkway.

(Anyone thing Billy D. Mays would have delivered fame far sooner? Works every time!) Well, there’s only one Mays I can find who played WVU football — not a good representation! Since he was 50, that puts him in the 1977-82 range. Can’t find him listed on any roster back then, either, though you’d have to figure he was a walk-on and perhaps had an inglorious and/or brief career that slipped through the cracks.

I’ll soldier on.

Update!

I emailed the writer of the linked story and asked how he knew Mays played at WVU. His reply:

I saw it reported in the Washington Post and Fortune magazine — he was a walk on linebacker. I asked him about it when I was interviewing him for my story and he confirmed. gotta admit, it was such a minor fact, i  didn’t  think to check with the university.