FOXBORO - After a whirlwind month in which he visited so many NFL teams, he can't even remember them, Jerod Mayo wanted to just kick back and do something a little less dynamic on Saturday.

So he raked leaves in the back yard of his family's house in Virginia - and then became, potentially, a very rich man. Just another happy Saturday afternoon in the life of a first-round selection in the NFL Draft.

"The plan was to do yard work," said the inside linebacker from Hampton, Va., via the University of Tennessee. "I was in the back yard picking up leaves. I know at this time of year, you don't expect to see leaves, but we have leaves in our back yard. So I was picking up leaves with my mom and I couldn't do it anymore after one bag.

"So I sat on the porch and I was just sitting there thinking, and Coach (Bill) Belichick called me," he said. "I was really excited. I was just happy. I had a little get-together, little cookout, things like that. Nothing big. There were about 15 people here."

There will be more than 68,000 more people around to see Mayo become an NFL player in September, thus fulfilling a personal dream. And he'll do so as the No. 10 selection overall, which ensures a pretty good salary for at least the next few years. The fact that he was selected by the New England Patriots, the reigning dynasty of the decade, makes the selection all the more sweet.

"It's like a dream come true, pretty much," Mayo told reporters via conference call. "You don't expect a team that only lost one game last year to have a top 10 pick, but at the same time they were winning before me, they'll be winning even if I'm not there. I just want to come in, make a contribution and learn from some of the greats at the position."

Mayo is a bit of a rarity, the first linebacker taken by Belichick above the fifth round in his nine drafts for the Patriots. In fact, Mayo is the first linebacker taken in the first round since Pete Carroll and Bobby Grier took Ohio State's Andy Katzenmoyer with the 28th selection in 1999.

"I feel like I bring a winning nature, even though the Patriots already have a winning nature," Mayo said.

Mayo is regarded as a smart and coachable athlete who showed steady progress during his career with the Volunteers. But he's not the perfect selection; he has a history of knee injuries, and was involved in one brush with the law in 2005, when he was charged with felony aggravated assault for allegedly hitting another Tennessee student during a party. The charges were dropped when a witness failed to appear in court.

Belichick usually puts a lot of time into researching "red-flag" athletes, however.

"We brought him up and visited with him," Belichick said. "He's a very intelligent player, he's a good football player. He's smart, he understands schemes and concepts, he runs the defense, makes the calls, makes adjustments and all those things. I think that he has a lot to offer."

Confident that Mayo's brush with the law was not an issue, Belichick said he liked the versatility that the 6-foot-1, 242-pounder brings to his team. Mayo concurred that versatility would work in his favor when training camp comes in July.

"I've played all three spots," Mayo said. "We even have a 3-4 package in our system at Tennessee. I feel like the transition won't be a problem. I'm just going to be a sponge and learn from those guys."

As befitting a two-year starter in a strong college program, Mayo wasn't lacking in confidence as he chatted with reporters - but it was confidence tempered with an appreciation for the reality of his situation. "I'm really confident," he said. "When people hear 'contribution,' they think this guy is going to come in and get Defensive Rookie of the Year and things like that. That's a goal of mine, but at the same time, you can make a contribution on special teams.

"If I come in and do become a starter, I want to make a contribution that way," he said. "Any part of the game, any aspect of that game coaches want me to play, I feel I'll succeed in."

But he knows he has to work hard to crack a lineup that includes the likes of Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau (if he chooses to return for his 19th season) and Adalius Thomas. He got that sense when he visited Foxboro and got a feel for what the Patriots are all about - something he didn't feel in most of his 10 other trips.

"To be honest, there wasn't an atmosphere that you felt the winning tradition like you did when you walked through the buildings of the Patriots," Mayo said. "I'm not sure if it's because they only lost one game and I watched all their games and things like that, but it was just in my mind. I felt the vibe from the coaches and from everybody from the assistant, Nancy (Meier) I felt this was a winning organization and I'm just happy to be here.

"When I went up there for my visit, we sat down, went over a couple of plays and adjustments, things like that," he said. "Then they took it off the board, had me draw the plays back up, adjustments, things like that. I feel pretty confident in my skills to learn systems and things like that. They taught me the very basic plays. I'm expecting it to give a lot more difficult, but at the same time I feel like learning from the great guys they have in that linebacker room, I'll be able to catch on pretty fast."