Ennis Haywood (December 5, 1979 – May 11, 2003) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Early years

Haywood attended Dallas Carter High School. As a senior, he had to overcome an injury to collect 800 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns and 85 tackles on defense. He received third-team All-area honors. He received honor roll recognition during all of his four years with a 3.50 GPA.

College career

Haywood accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he was the backup running back behind Darren Davis. He had 30 carries for 178 yards (5.9-yard avg.) and 2 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he remained the backup running back behind Davis, collecting 55 carries for 278 yards (5.1-yard avg.) and 3 touchdowns. He rushed for 178 yards and one touchdown in the season opener against Indiana State University, after replacing an injured Davis. As a junior, he was named the starter at running back after Davis graduated, sharing the backfield with future NFL quarterback

Sage Rosenfels Sage Jamen Rosenfels (born March 6, 1978) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Iowa State. He was then drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played with the Miami Dolp ...

. He registered 229 carries for 1,237 yards (led the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

), a 5.4-yard average, 8 touchdowns and 25 receptions for 211 yards. He rushed for 241 yards and 2 touchdowns against

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. He contributed to the team having a 9-3 record and posting the school's first bowl win. As a senior, he shared the backfield with future NFL quarterback

Seneca Wallace Seneca Sinclair Wallace (born August 6, 1980) is a former American football quarterback and current assistant coach for John Paul II High School. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college ...

. He registered 258 carries for 1,169 yards, a 4.5-yard average, 14 rushing touchdowns (tied for sixth in school history) and 20 receptions for 138 yards. He led the

in rushing and was ranked 10th nationally with a 123.7 rushing yards-per-game average, becoming the seventh Iowa State running back to reach 1,000 yards in at least 2 seasons, while contributing to the school having back to back bowl appearances. He had 189 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. He finished his college career with 2,862 rushing yards (fifth in school history), 27 rushing touchdowns (sixth in school history), 3,468 all-purpose yards (fourth in school history) and a 5.0 yards per carry average (second in school history). He only lost one fumble and Iowa State had a 12-0 record when Haywood rushed for 100 yards.

Professional career

Haywood was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

on April 29. He led the team in rushing during the pre-season with 31 carries for 120 yards. He was waived on September 1. He was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 3, where he remained for the rest of the season. On April 23, 2003, he was re-signed by the Cowboys to compete for a roster spot. In May, he participated in the team's three-day minicamp.

Death

Haywood was rushed to the hospital on May 10, 2003, after he began vomiting in his sleep and ceased breathing. On May 11, he was taken off life support at his family's request. It was later found that a mixture of prescription medications for Haywood's

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

and alcohol played a part in his death.

Personal life

Haywood was married with two children.

References

External links

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Iowa State Football Great Ennis Haywood, Dead at 23
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Ennis 1979 births 2003 deaths American football running backs Iowa State Cyclones football players Dallas Cowboys players Drug-related deaths in Texas Alcohol-related deaths in Texas Players of American football from Dallas