Kelvin Darnell Hayden Jr. (born July 23, 1983) 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 with ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the second round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. In

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

he returned a

Rex Grossman Rex Daniel Grossman III (born August 23, 1980) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Florida, where he rece ...

interception (the first of his career) 56 yards for a touchdown in a win over his hometown team, the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Hayden also played for the Bears and the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Early years

Hayden attended

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's Hubbard High School, where he was a four-year starter in football. As a freshman cornerback, he was a first-team All-PowerBar team selection and an All-Area selection after posting ten interceptions. As a sophomore

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 ...

, he passed for 21 touchdowns and rushed for seven more scores. As a junior tailback, he rushed for , and was an All-Conference pick and an All-Area selection. Hayden was a

fan during his youth.

College career

Joliet Junior College

Hayden attended

Joliet Junior College Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States. In Spring 2014, the college enrolled 16,375 students. Every year, 48,000 stu ...

for two years, where he finished his career with 115 receptions for 1,839 yards (16.13 yards per rec. avg.) and 17 touchdowns and was a two-time All-Conference and an All-Region pick. After losing his first junior college game, he led Joliet JC to 21 consecutive victories and the 2002

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

National Championship. As a sophomore, he was the NJCAA National Offensive National Player of the Year, won first-team JC All-America accolades, and was named the Conference Player of the Year, after making 72 receptions for 1,297 yards(18.1 yards per rec. avg.) and 13 touchdowns. He was also named the MVP of the 2002 NCAA National Championship game. As a freshman, he made 42 receptions for 542 yards (12.9 yards per rec. avg.) and four touchdowns. He then transferred to Illinois.

University of Illinois

In 2003, Hayden led the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

in receptions and receiving yards with 52 receptions for 592 yards. Prior to the 2004 season, he switched to cornerback. He started all 11 games and had 71 tackles and four interceptions.

Professional career

2005 NFL Draft

Hayden was drafted in the second round (60th overall) by the

Indianapolis Colts (2005–2010)

In his second season, Hayden recorded his first career interception in

when he took a

pass 56 yards for a touchdown, en route to a Colts 29-17 victory over the

. His stats as a Colt were 239 total tackles and 9 interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns. Hayden also scored a touchdown on a 26-yard fumble recovery in a game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

during the 2006 season.

Atlanta Falcons (2011)

Hayden had 16 total tackles and two interceptions during his one-year tenure in Atlanta.

Chicago Bears (2012–2014)

On April 5, 2012, he signed with the

on a 1-year contract worth $825,000. In Week 9 against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, Hayden recovered two forced fumbles. In 2012, Hayden and four other players led the league in defensive fumble recoveries with four. Despite becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2013, on March 26, Hayden signed a one-year deal to return to the Bears. On August 7, 2013, the Bears announced that Hayden suffered a torn hamstring and would miss the entire 2013 season. The injury occurred during Family Fest practice at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

on August 3, 2013. Hayden was eventually placed on injured reserve. Hayden became a free agent after the 2013 season, but was resigned on February 28, 2014. On August 30, 2014, the Bears waived him along with others during their final roster cuts. On September 2, 2014, he was re-signed by the Bears to fill an opening on the roster when wide receiver

Marquess Wilson Marquess Willis Wilson (born September 14, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football for Washington State University. College c ...

was placed on injured reserve. On September 13, 2014, the Bears released him and two others as they needed to fill some depth due to multiple injuries.

Personal life

Hayden got engaged to

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

on May 13, 2018, but Henson disclosed the end of the engagement during the October 19, 2020 episode of

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film t ...

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Kelvin 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks American football wide receivers Joliet Wolves football players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Indianapolis Colts players Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people