From Day One, Colorado Was The Only Place For Mark Haynes

Mark Haynes had a football career that many could only dream about. He was selected to All-America, Pro Bowl, and All-Pro teams. He was selected eighth overall in the 1980 NFL Draft, and he appeared in three Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos.

On Nov. 9, he can add a new accomplishment to the list. Haynes will be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Haynes is a native of Kansas City, Kan. He was raised by Arthur and Elsie Haynes, and was the second youngest of 11 children. He went to JC Harmon High School where he received seven letters in football, basketball, and track. When it was time for his next step, he knew exactly where it was going to be.

"I used to watch sports on the TV growing up and I can remember watching the University of Colorado against Oklahoma," Haynes said. "The game was in Boulder, and the fans were going wild and crazy. I said to myself that if I ever got the chance to play college football, the University of Colorado is where I wanted to go."

As a kid, the Haynes family would come to Colorado on vacation to visit his aunt who lived in Denver. The drive from Kansas to Colorado west on I-70 gave Haynes some of his first glimpses of the Colorado mountains. Years later on his recruiting trip, he drove in on Highway 36 into Boulder, and the view all but locked in his commitment.

"That was something that I could never forget," Haynes said. "Coming into the Boulder valley and seeing the university, I knew that CU was where I wanted to go to school."

Haynes made the right choice.

His first three years in Boulder, Haynes played strong safety under Bill Mallory. Before his senior season, CU hired Chuck Fairbanks as its new head football coach. That was when Haynes made the switch to the outside and played cornerback for the first time in his career.

"I played safety all during pee wee football, high school football, and my first three years at Colorado so making a switch to the outside was very difficult and challenging," Haynes said. "It was a tough transition, but I kept working at it and the coaches kept coaching me up so things worked out."

The switch did indeed workout. He was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team All-American as a senior in 1979 and was also named first-team All-Big Eight, along with receiving the Zack Jordan Award as MVP of his team voted on by his teammates.

Over the course of his career he racked up 256 tackles which is good for second most by a defensive back in Colorado history, and recorded 17 pass deflections which is tied for seventh all-time. In 1989, he was named a member of CU's All-Century team.

Haynes was known for his blazing speed (recorded a 40-yard dash time of 4.4 seconds), but to him, tackling was the foundation of his game.

"Tackling is all about 'want to' and I always enjoyed the desire to tackle," Haynes said.

A true team player, the most memorable accomplishment for Haynes during his time in Boulder wasn't all of the stats he tallied, but was going to the Orange Bowl his freshman season.

"It was a tremendous experience," he recalled. "As a team sport, going to have a chance to win a big game is my best experience. We were never able to go back so that game really stood out to me."

After such a decorated career, Haynes surely had a future playing football, yet he never really concerned himself with a career in the NFL. It wasn't until his senior season when he realized that he may get drafted.

"Chuck Fairbanks told me that if I did well with the switch to cornerback, I could have a chance to get drafted into the NFL," Haynes said.

The New York Giants selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft. He was the fourth-highest Buff ever selected and remembers the moment fondly.

"I was at class and I got a call from (sports information director) Dave Plati to come into his office," Haynes said. "When I got there I got on the phone with the Giants head coach and he told me they had drafted me."

Haynes spent six seasons in New York where he played in 127 games from 1980-85. During his years in New York he was selected to four straight All-Pro teams (1981-84), and played in three Pro Bowls (1982-84).

In 1986, he was traded to the Denver Broncos where he came back to the state of Colorado to play football. He appeared in Super Bowls XXI, XXII, and XXIV with the Broncos, which is what he takes most pride in during his NFL career.

"We went to three Super Bowls in four years," Haynes said. "Even though we didn't win any, it was a huge accomplishment. When you get a chance to win a championship, that is always a high point."

Today, Haynes lives in Denver with his wife Victoria. They have two daughters, Iman Haynes, 34, and Jasmine Dubose, 31. Although he is not in Boulder, he makes sure to keep up with the Colorado football program.

"You always like to see the guys win and I think they have a good coach right now so I think that they just need to develop some consistency," Haynes said. "I hope they can get back to a bowl game and pick up that magic number of six wins."

The type of career Haynes had with the Buffaloes made it inevitable for him to be a member of the CU Athletics Hall of Fame eventually, but he is not taking the induction lightly.

"It is quite an honor, and something that I will cherish throughout the rest of my life," he said. "Just to be mentioned with some of the greats of Colorado football is outstanding."

Haynes will make the same drive into Boulder that blew him away so many years ago, but this time it will be to etch his name in CU Athletics forever.

Colorado University Athletics

From Day One, Colorado Was The Only Place For Mark Haynes

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