Lester Hayes
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Lester Craig Hayes (born January 22, 1955) is an American former professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player who was a
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
for the
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
/
Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
of 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 ...
(NFL). Hayes was commonly referred to as "the Judge" and also as "Lester the Molester" because of his
bump and run coverage Bump and run coverage is a strategy formerly widely used by defensive backs in American professional football in which a defender lined up directly in front of a wide receiver and tried to impede him with arms, hands, or entire body and disrupt ...
. He had a distinct stance, crouching very low when facing the opposing wide receiver. He was also known for using Stickum before it was banned in 1981 by a rule bearing his name. He had been introduced to it by
Fred Biletnikoff Frederick S. Biletnikoff (born February 23, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He was a wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons and l ...
, who unlike Hayes has made it to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
; Hayes shares the all-time club record in interceptions with 39 with Willie Brown. Hayes and his thirteen interceptions in 1980 is tied for second most in a season all-time and the most in the last 40 seasons.


College career

In college starting in 1973 he played for the
Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...
. He first played defensive end as a freshman and then linebacker and safety as a sophomore. During his junior and senior years he settled in as a safety and became an All-American for his play at safety.


Professional career

Hayes was converted to
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
after being chosen by the Raiders in the fifth round of the 1977 draft. Hayes helped contribute to the Raiders two
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
wins in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
and
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
. Hayes was a one time
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
(1980) and a five-time
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
er (1980–1984). He was known as one of the greatest shutdown cornerbacks in NFL history. In 1980, Hayes led the NFL with 13 interceptions, tied for second most with
Dan Sandifer Daniel Padgett Sandifer (March 1, 1927 – August 15, 1987), was an American football defensive back who played with six National Football League teams from 1948 NFL season, 1948 to 1953 NFL season, 1953. Because of World War II, he was one ...
, who had set it in 1948, and behind
Dick "Night Train" Lane Richard Lane (April 16, 1928 – January 29, 2002), commonly known as Dick "Night Train" Lane, was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for 14 years in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Los Angeles R ...
with 14 in 1952, and was named AP Defensive Player of the Year and the NEA Defensive Player of the Year. He added five more interceptions in Oakland's three playoff games as they advanced to a victory in
Super Bowl XV Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
A big ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' fan, during pregame interviews for
Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference ( ...
he declared himself the "only true
Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi O ...
" in the NFL. His best performance was probably in Super Bowl XVIII. He had only one tackle, but that was because he so effectively covered
Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...
and
Art Monk James Arthur Monk (born December 5, 1957) is a retired American football wide receiver who played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, New York Jets, and the Philadelphia Eagles. He is considered by many NFL players, coaches and analysts t ...
that
Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian ...
hardly threw to the left side of the field. During his last four seasons, he formed a partnership with Mike Haynes that has been considered one of the best in league history. Hayes and Haynes gave the Raiders the luxury of having two shutdown corners. They are widely reckoned as being the prototypes for a generation of speedy and physical cornerbacks. He retired after the 1986 season with a total of 39 interceptions (including 4 defensive touchdowns), a Raider record shared with Hall of Famer Willie Brown. In 2012, the
Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...
named Hayes to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2012.


Stickum usage

Hayes was introduced to Stickum, an adhesive substance used by players to improve their grip, in his 1977 rookie season by Hall of Fame wide receiver and fellow teammate
Fred Biletnikoff Frederick S. Biletnikoff (born February 23, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He was a wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons and l ...
. However, instead of just applying a small amount to his hands, he began to slather it all over his arms and even his uniform, drawing more and more attention to it. Hayes would later describe the influence the adhesive had on his career, saying that before being introduced to it in his rookie year, he "couldn't catch a cold in Antarctica". The use of Stickum was banned by the NFL after the 1980 season. In the six seasons that Hayes played following the banning of Stickum, he had 14 total interceptions, compared to his 25 that he had in his first four seasons. However, he was named to the Pro Bowl and selected as a second-team All-Pro four times after 1980. Hayes would later state that alongside lingering thumb injuries, the Stickum ban contributed to a decline in his later career. Fred Biletnikoff and
Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championshi ...
each stated their usage of Stickum and made it to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
while Hayes has not.https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jerry-rice-on-stickum-use-all-players-did-it/ He was a finalist four times (2001-2004) and a semi-finalist six times (2005-2010).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Lester 1955 births Living people African-American players of American football American Conference Pro Bowl players American football cornerbacks American football safeties Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Houston Sportspeople from Modesto, California Texas A&M Aggies football players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award winners