Mike Haynes
Encyclopedia
Michael James Haynes is an American
former National Football League
cornerback
who played for the New England Patriots
and the Los Angeles Raiders
. He used his speed, quickness and range to become both a premier defensive back
and an outstanding punt
return specialist
.
at John Marshall High School
in Los Angeles
. He received numerous all-league and all-city honors while there. In addition to football
Haynes also participated in track and field
and currently holds the long jump
record at John Marshall High School
. During his Senior Year (1971) M. Haynes started both ways on offense (QB) and defense (Cornerback). However, Marshall went 0-7-1 (W-L-T) in the Northern League in 1971 and tied Belmont 20-20 in Mike's last HS game! In a show of his athletic accomplishments, John Marshall High School named the (Brand new artificial) School Football Field in Honor of Mike Haynes.
, Mike Haynes was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference
selection, and a two-time All-America
selection. In 2001 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
.
year with the Patriots with eight interceptions
and an AFC
-leading 608 yards on 45 punt returns. That year, Haynes gave the Patriots their first-ever touchdown
s on punt returns with 89-yard and 62-yard returns. He earned a Pro Bowl
invitation as a rookie, the first of nine Pro Bowl bids. He also won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. The 1976 Patriots had a 11-3 record and clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 13 years. In the first round the Patriots lost to Oakland Raiders 24-21. In 1978 Haynes had 6 interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts. The Patriots won their divsion but lost to the Houston Oilers in the playoffs. Mike Haynes played 4 more seasons with New England with 9 picks and a single touchdown in 1980 against the rival New York Jets.
Haynes recorded 28 interceptions and 1,159 yards on 111 returns, a 10.4-yard average during his seven years with the Patriots. He started his career with 58 consecutive starts
before being sidelined with a rib injury late in 1979.
Mike Haynes was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1994 and number was retired as well.
and a No. 2 pick in 1985
. He played the last five games in 1983 and then started and had one interception in the Raiders’ Super Bowl XVIII
victory.
In seven seasons with the Raiders, Haynes returned only one punt but he added 18 interceptions to give him a career total of 46 which were returned for 688 yards and two touchdowns, including a team-record 97-yard return against Miami
in 1984. Haynes was an All-Pro
choice in 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984 and 1985 and an All-AFC pick eight times.
In 1997, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
. In 1999, he was ranked number 93 on The Sporting News
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
version of the game however, Mike Haynes' name was changed to "Mark Smith". No explanation for the change was ever presented. All of Mark Smith's abilities, player model, and even facial features, remained unchanged from those of Mike Haynes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
who played for the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
and the Los Angeles Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He used his speed, quickness and range to become both a premier defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
and an outstanding punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
return specialist
Return specialist
A Return Specialist is a player on American football or Canadian football special teams who specializes in returning punts and kickoff returns. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most play other positions as well. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a...
.
Early years
Mike Haynes played cornerbackCornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
at John Marshall High School
John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
John Marshall High School is a high school located in the Los Feliz district of the City of Los Angeles at 3939 Tracy Street, in Los Angeles, California, USA.Marshall, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He received numerous all-league and all-city honors while there. In addition to football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
Haynes also participated in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and currently holds the long jump
Long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
record at John Marshall High School
John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
John Marshall High School is a high school located in the Los Feliz district of the City of Los Angeles at 3939 Tracy Street, in Los Angeles, California, USA.Marshall, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
. During his Senior Year (1971) M. Haynes started both ways on offense (QB) and defense (Cornerback). However, Marshall went 0-7-1 (W-L-T) in the Northern League in 1971 and tied Belmont 20-20 in Mike's last HS game! In a show of his athletic accomplishments, John Marshall High School named the (Brand new artificial) School Football Field in Honor of Mike Haynes.
College career
At Arizona StateArizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, Mike Haynes was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
selection, and a two-time All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
selection. In 2001 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
.
New England Patriots
Mike Haynes was selected in the first round in the 1976 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He enjoyed a sensational rookieRookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
year with the Patriots with eight interceptions
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
and an AFC
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
-leading 608 yards on 45 punt returns. That year, Haynes gave the Patriots their first-ever touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s on punt returns with 89-yard and 62-yard returns. He earned a Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
invitation as a rookie, the first of nine Pro Bowl bids. He also won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. The 1976 Patriots had a 11-3 record and clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 13 years. In the first round the Patriots lost to Oakland Raiders 24-21. In 1978 Haynes had 6 interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts. The Patriots won their divsion but lost to the Houston Oilers in the playoffs. Mike Haynes played 4 more seasons with New England with 9 picks and a single touchdown in 1980 against the rival New York Jets.
Haynes recorded 28 interceptions and 1,159 yards on 111 returns, a 10.4-yard average during his seven years with the Patriots. He started his career with 58 consecutive starts
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
before being sidelined with a rib injury late in 1979.
Mike Haynes was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1994 and number was retired as well.
Los Angeles Raiders
Haynes played out his option with the Patriots in 1982, and in November, 1983, his contract was awarded to the Los Angeles Raiders in a settlement that gave the Patriots a No. 1 draft choice in 19841984 NFL Draft
The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1-2, 1984. No teams elected to claim any players in the regular supplemental draft that...
and a No. 2 pick in 1985
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985...
. He played the last five games in 1983 and then started and had one interception in the Raiders’ Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, deciding the National Football League champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Los Angeles Raiders defeated the National Football Conference...
victory.
In seven seasons with the Raiders, Haynes returned only one punt but he added 18 interceptions to give him a career total of 46 which were returned for 688 yards and two touchdowns, including a team-record 97-yard return against Miami
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1984. Haynes was an All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
choice in 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984 and 1985 and an All-AFC pick eight times.
In 1997, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. In 1999, he was ranked number 93 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
All-Pro Football 2K8
In the video game All Pro Football 2K8, Mike Haynes originally appeared as a Gold Cornerback with the abilities "Coverage Bonus - Player has excellent pass coverage skills" and "Return Specialist - Player is skilled at returning punts or kicks". After the first patch for the XBox 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version of the game however, Mike Haynes' name was changed to "Mark Smith". No explanation for the change was ever presented. All of Mark Smith's abilities, player model, and even facial features, remained unchanged from those of Mike Haynes.
External links
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile