DJ Hayden - turning a 5% chance of survival into 100% success

When we look at the prospects for this year’s NFL Draft, a lot of the players have stories that are worth telling. Ziggy Ansah, a defensive end from BYU, moved to the United States from Ghana and didn’t even know how to play football until a couple of years ago. Tyrann Mathieu, the infamous defensive back out of LSU, has dealt with a drug problem, criminal convictions, dismissal from LSU’s team and eventual rehabilitation to find himself possibly being drafted as high as the second or third round of this year’s draft. Manti Te’o has a story that transcends American Football, and is so outrageous it has warranted news coverage even beyond the sports pages.

However, when it comes to this year’s draft class, nobody has a story quite like DJ Hayden.

Hayden, a stand out cornerback from the University of Houston, will enter the NFL Draft as one of the highest rated cornerback prospects available. Mike Mayock, NFL Network’s draft guru and one of the most respected talent evaluators in the NFL, told reporters in a conference call on Thursday that Hayden was his top rated cornerback in this draft class, and that he sees Hayden being drafted somewhere between the Tennessee Titans at 10 and no later than the Cincinnatti Bengals at 21.

That is absolutely incredible when you know Hayden’s story. Just over five months ago, Hayden suffered an injury to the chest during a routine drill in practice. Now, a number of prospects in this year’s draft class have received a great deal of media attention for their recuperation from serious injury. Marcus Lattimore, the nation’s top running back in college a year ago, is still rehabbing from a dislocated knee and multiple ligament tears in his leg. Tank Carradine, a defensive end from Florida State, is trying to get back to full fitness following an ACL tear and looks to have convinced teams that he is healthy enough to be taken in the first round.

However, these leg injuries, serious as they are to an athlete’s career, are nothing compared to what DJ Hayden has experienced. Here is how Hayden described the incident that caused his injury when he addressed the media at the NFL Combine in February:

“It was a regular day at practice. We were doing team versus scout team. They threw the ball my way. Me and the safety ran into each other. His knee hit me in my chest. I fell to the ground. It felt like I got the wind knocked out of me. When I was breathing, I just wasn’t breathing right. [The doctor] took me inside. He was asking me these questions and I was getting real cold.

I’m looking around and I’m getting real sleepy. My left eye goes pitch black. I can’t see out of it. I can see a little bit out of my left eye. I’m praying, ‘Lord, help me get out of this one.’ I’m looking around and I’m getting real sleepy. My left eye goes pitch black. I can’t see out of it. I can see a little bit out of my left eye. I’m praying, ‘Lord, help me get out of this one.’”

As Hayden began to suspect he lost the vision in his eye, this was no ordinary injury. What Hayden actually suffered is something that is usually only seen in high-impact vehicle collision victims. Hayden severed the vena cava inferior, the main vein running to the heart, which caused him to suffer massive internal bleeding in his abdomen. He underwent emergency heart surgery and the treating doctors managed to stop the bleeding and save Hayden’s life.

Hayden severed the vena cava inferior, the main vein running to the heart, which caused him to suffer massive internal bleeding in his abdomen. Doctors estimate that a victim of this injury only has a 5% chance of survival

Most people who suffer the same injury as Hayden aren’t so lucky. The injury is incredibly serious, with doctors giving only a 5% chance of survival; he should have died. This is what makes Hayden’s story so remarkable.

Alonzo Highsmith, senior personnel executive for the Green Bay Packers, told the Houston Chronicle just how unique an injury this was: “It’s the most unique injury in the history of the draft. The only people that ever had it aren’t alive, and doctors have never seen it.”

Just months after the emergency heart surgery that should have claimed his life, Hayden was back on the football field taking part in the University of Houston pro day. Hayden registered a 33.5-inch vertical leap, a 10-foot broad jump, and burned a 4.33 40-yard dash on his first attempt. That is excellent athleticism for any NFL prospect, but for one who is less than a year removed from the horrific accident, it is quite simply astounding.

And now, with the incident behind him and a whole new lease on life, Hayden is climbing draft boards all over the country and solidifying his place as a first round pick. Before the injury, Hayden was having a terrific season, recording 4 interceptions and 2 interception-return for touchdowns in the 9 games he played. Despite his injury he still managed to earn first team All-Conference USA honors. It is quite clear, therefore, that the excitement surrounding Hayden’s value is not a result of sympathy for his injury and marvel at his subsequent recovery. Hayden was showing that he could be a dominant defender prior to the training accident, and now that he is proving that he is physically returning to where he was at pre-surgery, it looks like Hayden is a legitimate first round pick.

The story serves as both a reminder of the fragility of life, and the inspiration that can be drawn from such harrowing experiences. Hayden is only 22 years old, but after learning that the game he loved almost killed him, he has shown great determination and fearlessness to refuse to give up on his dream, defy the doctors, and strengthen his body and mind to be ready to play in the world’s premier American Football league. It is impossible not to root for the kid and I, for one, will be looking out for his name especially at Thursday’s draft.