Gerald Hayes (born October 10, 1980) is a former

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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. T ...

. He played college football at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Early years

Hayes played his high school football at

Passaic County Technical Institute Passaic County Technical Institute (also known as PCTI, Passaic County Tech, the Passaic County Technical Vocational High School or simply Tech), is a vocational public high school in Wayne, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades ...

. He was high school teammates with former NFL players Marcel Shipp and Mike Adams.

College career

Hayes attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

and was an Administration of Justice Major and a letterman in football. In football, he was a three-time All-Big East Conference selection and finished his college football career with 402 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

On April 18, 2006, he signed a one-year qualifying offer on playing his 4th season with the Cardinals. He was released by Arizona on July 28, 2011.

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers signed Hayes on October 11, 2011. He was released on November 6, 2011.

References

1980 births Living people African-American players of American football American football middle linebackers Arizona Cardinals players Players of American football from Paterson, New Jersey Pittsburgh Panthers football players San Diego Chargers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people {{linebacker-1980s-stub