Nick Hayden (born February 4, 1986) 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 ...

defensive tackle 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

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, Cincinnati Bengals and

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 divi ...

. He played college football at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

and was selected by the

in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Early years

Hayden attended

Arrowhead High School Arrowhead High School is a high school located in Hartland, Wisconsin. Sitting on of land, the school has two campuses, a north campus and a south campus. Juniors and seniors attend the north campus, while freshmen and sophomores attend the south ...

, where he played as a defensive tackle, receiving All-State honors two straight years and the Defensive Lineman of the Year award in 2002. He accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. He became a starter at defensive tackle as a sophomore, registering 56 tackles, 5.5 sacks (led the team), one forced fumble, 4 passes defensed and 3 fumble recoveries. The next year, he had 27 tackles and one blocked kick. In his final season he posted 48 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries (led the team), 2 passes defensed and one blocked kick. In college, he started the final 39 games of his career, registering 132 tackles, 10 sacks, one forced fumble, 6 fumble recoveries (third most in school history), 6 passes defensed and 2 blocked kicks.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Hayden was selected in the sixth round (181st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft by the

. In 2010, he became a regular starter (10 games) at left defensive tackle, registering 51 tackles, one sack, 2 quarterback pressures and one pass defensed. He was waived on September 3, 2011.

Cincinnati Bengals

On December 7, 2011, he signed as a

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 ...

with the Cincinnati Bengals and played in two games before being declared inactive for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. The next year, he suffered a high ankle sprained in the last preseason game and was waived injured on August 31.

Dallas Cowboys

After not playing in

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, he was signed to a futures contract by the

on February 10,

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, to provide depth in training camp. The many injuries the team experienced in the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

allowed him to move up the depth chart and be named the team starter at left defensive tackle. Hayden proved to be a reliable player by starting all 16 games an playing solid against the run. He finished the year with the most tackles (51) and snaps (821) registered by a Cowboys

man. He also had 16

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

pressures, 2 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron 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. In Amer ...

. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he started 16 games and led the team's

men with 52 tackles, while also registering 4 tackles for loss (tied for second on the team), 8 quarterback pressures and one pass defensed. In 2015, he didn't start against the New England Patriots, when the team opened with only 3

men. He posted 15 starts, 54 tackles (4 for loss), 5 quarterback pressures and 2 passes defensed. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

Cleveland Browns

On July 22,

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, he was signed as a

by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

to play

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

in a 3-4 defense, who were looking to improve the depth at the

after

Desmond Bryant Desmond J. Bryant (born December 15, 1985) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Harvard and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Early life and college career Bryant ...

was lost for the year with a torn pectoral muscle. He was released on August 29.

NFL statistics

References

External links

Once Wild Child, Hayden Now Determined Starter At DTCarolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Nick 1986 births Living people People from Hartland, Wisconsin Players of American football from Waukesha County, Wisconsin American football defensive tackles Wisconsin Badgers football players Carolina Panthers players Cincinnati Bengals players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players