In Black America; Know Your Stats, with Mike Haynes

From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America. I have surgery. They have robotic surgery nowadays and probably most of the surgeries are done robotically. But there's a lot of different treatment options and that's just one of them and that was the one that my wife and I thought I should do and my doctor agreed and so that's what we did. Because we caught it early, I'm in good shape. There's a couple of issues usually with these surgeries a lot of times and I didn't suffer from any of the common issues that happened and I have to knock on wood. I used to tell guys, hey if you catch it early, it's just a blip in your life dump to worry. I've had some of my friends and they've had some issues afterwards so I've had to stop saying that.

But they're still alive. They're still in the game and there's a lot of different things they can do to deal with these other complications that they might have. Mike Haynes, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback. Haynes played 14 seasons in the National Football League. In the summer of 2008, Haynes made a life-changing decision on a whim. That day, the Hall of Fame was running a public service announcement to raise awareness with prostate cancer. They asked him to participate. He had recently taken a physical with his primary care doctor in LA and wasn't really interested in taking a screening. Haynes' rigged his show his face and encouraged others to take the screening and that would be it. He later learned that his PSA level was at alarmingly high and he was strongly advised to speak with his doctor back in LA. In this country, one in six men would be diagnosed with prostate cancer and one in two-and-a-half African-American men would be diagnosed with the disease. I'm Johnny Ohenson, Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America.

On this week's program, know your stance with Pro Football Hall of Fame of Mike Haynes in Black America. Well, they were on board before me. They were on board with the American Neurological Association, now it's called the Erology Cares Foundation, and I was at their very first screening. That was it. So, in every year at the Hall of Fame, there's another guy, we find another guy that has prostate cancer. So, every year, and I'll see somebody having seen it in a long time, go, Mike, I'm going, what? I said, man, this guy's never reacted to me like this before. He's going out of his way, calling my name out loud, and then he gets so many, he goes, I just want to thank you, man. Thank you, bro. I said, for what? Well, you know, the work that you're doing, man, if it wasn't for you, I don't know that I would have had it. I don't know if I would have gone in, and I went in and sure enough I had it. Oh, wow. Okay. So, I feel good about the work that we're doing, and not just me, so, you know, tons of other players and people like you who are interviewing me who want to make a difference

and help guys find out in the early stages, because prostate cancer is not a cancer that has to take our life. For approximately 165,000 men will be told they have prostate cancer this year, aside from age, the risk factor for prostate cancer include family history and race. One in nine men would develop prostate cancer, one in six African American men would develop prostate cancer, and one in five men with a family history would develop prostate cancer. If you are age 55 to 69, you need to talk to your doctor about prostate screening. One men are at a higher risk for prostate cancer. One in Denison, Texas, Mike Haynes, attended public schools in Los Angeles. He was a three year old Western Athletic Conference cornerback at Arizona State University. He was drafted in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, the fifth pick overall, and the first defensive back. He played 14 seasons in the NFL and was inducted to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

He won a Super Bowl ring with the Oakland Raiders and Super Bowl with 28. Haynes is a survivor of prostate cancer. In Black America, spoke with him at the 2018 NFL draft in Arlington, Texas about his career and the New Year's stats campaign. Well, I wish I could tell you it was all on me. I didn't want to go to screening. My boss at the time, because they were launching this new screening program with the American Neurological Association's Foundation, he asked me to go down and take a look and see how things were going. And when I went down, of course, everybody there didn't know who I was and these ladies, these nurses asked me to go ahead and sign up and do the screening. And I said, well, you might encourage some of the other guys to do it. So I did. And they called my name after they had taken my blood and I was a little bit worried because I had never had anybody call my name after taking my blood.

I thought they let you know in a couple of days. And so when he called me in, of course, I was paying close attention to everything he said. And he was asking if prostate cancer ran in my family, I said, I don't know. And he said, at the time, one in three men would be diagnosed with prostate cancer and one in five African-American men. And I said, geez, I don't know anybody that has had prostate cancer. And I said, that sounds like a lot of men. And so he gave me enough information that when I got home, I called my primary care doctor and gave him my results and said, hey, what is my baseline PSA? And he said, why? And I explained everything. And then as we were talking, he says, you know, Mike, since you're African-American, I think we should get you a biopsy. And that's the only way you're going to tell if you have the disease or not. When my biopsy came back positive, I had cancer in nine of the 12 places that they checked. And it was an awakening that you mean, you know, I'm sure, if you can imagine how I felt. I mean, I was in good health.

And you just had a physical? Just had a physical and they never said anything to me. And so if not for my phone call, I might have found out later when there was in a different stage. So we want men to find out if they have this disease, not like I did it, we want them to find out by being proactive, like knowing if it runs in your family. My grandfather died of some kind of cancer. I knew that. And just because I wasn't sure what that was, that's why I followed through and went back and talked to my doctor. And so our campaign is really about knowing your family history and doing what you need to do to stay in the game. That means talking to your doctor, starting talking to him and doing blood tests at 40, then that's what you need to do. They don't, it's not an expensive thing to stay informed. But the earlier you find out that you have it, the better results you're going to have. What type of treatment did you undergo? I had surgery. They have robotic surgery nowadays and probably most of the surgeries are done robotically. And I, but there's a lot of different treatment options and that's just one of them.

And that was the one that my wife and I thought I was, I should do. And my doctor agreed and so that's what we did. And so because we caught it early, I'm in good shape. I, you know, there's a couple of issues usually, you know, with these surgeries a lot of times. And I didn't suffer from any of the common issues that happened. And I have to knock on wood. I used to tell guys, hey, if you catch early, it's just a blip in your life dump to worry. But I've had some of my friends and they've had some issues afterwards. So I've had to stop saying that. But they're still alive. They're still in the game. And there's a lot of different things they can do to deal with these other complications that they might have. If you have friends such as myself, why is it so difficult for them to understand that this particular procedure needs to take place? You know, I think a lot of it is because there's two tests. There's a blood test and there's a digital rectal exam. And the digital rectal exam probably was keeping a lot of men from going in. But after going through what I went through, that is, that's a joke.

You have to do it and you're not going to get any sympathy from any women with that digital rectal exam. All the testing that they've had for many years in their lives. And for us, it doesn't really start until much later in life. And it's only a few seconds. I can't tell you it's not a big deal because I understand. And because of the way I felt about different things, I understood the challenges that doctors had or people had getting men to get in and had those conversations with their doctor. So when they asked me to be the spokesperson, I said, yes. Because I knew that I could get these other Hall of Famers to help me with this. And before Deacon Jones passed away, he and I, we were all over the place and trying to encourage men to get in and talk to their doctors about their prostate health. What type of question should an individual ask the doctor? Well, does he know that it runs in your family or it doesn't run your family? He needs to know those kinds of questions.

And there are a lot of symptoms, but I really think it's really difficult to talk about the symptoms because the symptoms are the same for a lot of different diseases. The main one is just knowing if it runs in your family. As you know, now it's been 2009 when I was finally had my surgery and everything. Now I read everything that you can read about men's health. And so sometimes I'm wondering, I asked myself, why is it that African-American men get it? But Africans don't get it. And I have to say, it must be our diet. After many, many years of certain diets, we must have, you know, something that's in our genes now that wasn't in the beginning. So, anyway, so I try to stay on top of it, try and encourage guys to, you know, get in and talk to their doctors. And even when they have complications, go back in and, hey, man, I'm having complications. You know, don't try to figure out stuff on your own. There's a lot of people been out there educated and you're not the first guy to get it and not the first guy to have a problem if you have a problem.

So, you know, it's, it's, if you're going to get cancer, prostate cancer is probably one that, ones, if you could choose, you'd pick, that would be one that you would pick. Because, to catch it early, it can be a very small change in your life. Where could one go to find information that will assist them once they go in and talk to their position? Well, one place is our website. We have this pretty active website. It's called KnowYourStats.org and there's a lot of frequently asked questions there. And, you know, you can call me, really, you know, I'm serious. I mean, I talk to a lot of men a lot all the time. And, that you could write me a letter and I'll write you back or, or shoot me an email and we'll shoot you an email back. But the best place for frequently asked questions is the website. And, and if you know a cancer survivor, talk to him. I get on these guys all the time and you don't talk to anybody, you know, this, when, when I was told that so many men had it, once I realized that I had it, I started saying,

man, they're saying there's a lot of African-American men that have this disease. I don't know one single guy and go, oh, yeah, I had it, I had to do, I had it, bro, you know, I'm like, what? Man, why didn't you guys tell me, you know, I don't know, you know, and just keep it to themselves. And, we got to change that, you know, I think we just need to normalize it and let guys talk about it. But, because there were so many guys that were affected negatively back and older days and like, say, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, where they didn't have any nerves, they couldn't get an erection. And so they weren't going to, they didn't want people to know that. But today is different, they have so many different treatment options and even so many things to do, if that's a problem for guys, that they should feel better about talking about it now. When did NFL come on board to support this effort? Well, they were on board before me, you know, they were on board with the American Eurological Association, now it's called Eurology Cares Foundation, and I was at their very first screening.

That was it. So, you know, I just, and every year at the Hall of Fame, there's another guy, we find another guy that has prostate cancer. So, every year. And I'll see somebody having seen it in a long time, go, Mike, I'm going, what? I said, man, this guy's never reacted to me like this before. He's like going out of his way, you know, calling my name out loud. And then he gets so many, he goes, I just want to thank you, man. Thank you, bro. And I said, for what? He said, you know, the work that you're doing, man, if it wasn't for you, I don't know that I would have had it. I don't know if I would have gone in, and I went in and sure enough I had it. I'm like, wow. Okay. So, I feel good about the work that we're doing, and not just me, it's a, you know, tons of other players and people like you who are interviewing me who want to make a difference and help guys find out in the early stages, because prostate cancer is not a cancer that has to take our life. In 1975, the Vietnam War ended in 1976, bro, at this same time, you were drafted number one by the New England Patriot, fifth player overall, first defensive player. Tell us what was like a year prior to that, knowing that you had friends in Vietnam, why

you were off at school that was on the state. Well, you know, I was, I was actually worried that I could have gotten drafted, and didn't work out that I did, thank God. And so, you know, at the time, I think I was just more thankful for that, that I didn't get drafted than anything else, but now I have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys that did get drafted, and for the guys who serve, you know, in the military, allow us to have the style of living that we have, and so, you know, if it happened, it would have happened, but it didn't, so, you know, God had a plan for me, a different plan. What was it like that day on the draft? Yeah. Well, you're going to laugh. My phone rang and woke me up. Okay. Hello, is Mike. Mike, this is the New England Patriots. You've just been drafted in the first round, fifth pick overall, hold for coach Fairbanks, you know?

And so, you know, so I'm still waking up, and he gets on the line and congratulates me, and he knew my coach, my college coach really well, and then he turned it over to press, and I did a lot of interviews, and then I hung up the phone, and I screamed out loud to my brother who was asleep down the hall, the redge, I just got drafted, I drafted to the Patriots, fifth player, you know, and then he called my mom, and, you know, so it's completely different today, if people figured I was going to get drafted that high, I would have been in New York, you know, right, you know, and, you know, so it's a different experience, and I like what they're doing now, the draft is like unbelievable, I haven't been to the draft in several years, and here in Dallas, the way it's laid out, it's like a Superbowl, you know, there's the NFL experiences here, and all the draft prospects are here doing camps, football camps, teaching young kids, and making future fans, you know, out of these kids, so I really like what the league is doing in terms of helping to grow our sport and

keep it popular, and, you know, I'm glad I'm glad I'm associated with the, still glad I'm associated with the NFL. For those who are familiar with NFL history, the 1976 draft changed in a lot of ways. It didn't go 17 rounds now a day, but also there was a legal battle between, I think, the Seahawks and Tampa Bay or something of that nature. No, no, it was their first year in the league, yeah, they're, and so actually the Seahawks were thinking about drafting me, and I would have been their first player in the club as a history, and I didn't want to be the first player in the club's history, I just felt like if I was a quarterback or a running back, that that would be a good idea. But as a defensive back, I didn't want it to be me, I felt like shoot, I don't, I can't imagine the history of the club, you know, being on my shoulders as a defensive back, and if I ever got beat, you know, everybody would think, you know, all, you know, negative

things, and so I wanted to be, I felt like you'd want that to be a position where you're in more control, you know, of scoring and things, and so, so they passed on me, and I fell to the New England Patriots. When you look at the New England Patriots of today, was that culture already in the process when Fairbanks was the coach? I would have to say yes, it was, you know, he was, he was a unique leader, you know, he's the one that really kind of brought in the coaching style and the draft style of what kind of player he wanted and all that, and I used to get Buckel Killroy all the respect and all the doof, all the depth for that, and really I found out later that it was really chuck that was telling him, and so when, even when he left, he would come down here and help Parcell's with the Cowboys, and I didn't realize that's why he was here, you know, so it was a blessing, and I learned a lot from him, and I learned a lot about the game because of him, you know, when we were drafted instead of like learning just the defensive

plays, I learned, we learned every single play, offense and defense, and they still do that today. So you can have a guy who gets injured on offense or defense, and another guy can swap in there and knows the plays and can maybe do justice, go to job as the other guy. So that's the same, and I think the Patriots are kind of like the Raiders were when I went to my era, seemed like they were always in contention, now it's just reverse. Now the Raiders are the old Patriots, and the Patriots are the old Raiders. So anyway, it's always been, I feel like I was really blessed to get drafted by the Patriots because I learned so much early on, and I like telling this story that my first full day of practice, I got beat by every single receiver on the team, every single one, and through my helmet down, and my helmet just busted out, you know, it fell all over the place, and Coach Fairbank said, Mike, this might be the best thing that ever happened

to you. He says, this is the National Football League, you're going up, you're going up against some of the greatest athletes of all time, and you know, you just can't show up and think you're going to be as good as them, you know, you're going to have to work at this. And so that's what I did. I went to work, and I was really fortunate, had good coaching, and good head coach, and good guys around me. Speaking of work, you have a saying that you wish the NFL fans were more appreciative of defenses, and you can have a whole game and chef the opposing receiver down and get no respect. Yeah, you don't even get your name called, you know, they don't, you know, the announcers don't say anything, but the smart ones do, the smart ones, they get it, because you'll go weeks, you know, weeks, you know, you know, and it didn't happen as much in New England as it did when I joined the Raiders. I think because the AFC West, they threw more, they threw more, and so they would, you know, they stopped picking on me early, and then, you know, Willie Brown is a Mike's, you know, don't fall asleep over there, don't fall asleep, man, they're going to, they're going to

come at you and, you know, games over and it never happened. So, but it did happen on occasion, and I learned a lesson a couple of times when I did fall asleep, you know, we were playing New Orleans Saints and I got him Gito Merkins, he was like a third or fourth string quarterback, came in and beat me, you know, I'm running around with him. What is he doing in there? They're not going to throw the ball in this guy, and I'm running and I hear the safety going, oh, Mike, Mike, ball, and I turned to look for the ball, and then while I turned, the ball was going into his hands, I never saw that, and turned back around, he had it, but he was in the end zone. As soon as I touched his hands, it was really a touchdown. So I learned, you know, then even deep into my career that you just can't ever put your guard down, no matter what the situation is, you've got to, you know, be on all, you know, all pees and cues, all full alert, you know, the entire time. It looks as though when you are playing, you unless the Hayes, particularly when you had the Raiders in Oakland, that the defensive backs had more leeway, nowadays seem like you can't touch him, as far as the receivers and concerned.

Well, you can touch him, you know, one of the things that we did is we spent a lot of time with the NFL officials, you know, and figuring out what we could do and couldn't do. Like, what if a hand slips up there, you know, what if I do this, and you know, what if I run up and I catch him at four yards, I can't take my hands off him at five, you know, it's impossible and, you know, they all will, we call that incidental. It's what if you're running down the field with them and you're, you're both running in your arms, his arms, you know, that's incidental. Like, oh, okay, well, what happens if you, if you're running a route and the guy trips and falls, he goes, that's incidental. Like, oh, okay, that's all, so you learn in all these different things and you have to put those things in your repertoire, really, when you're going out there against some of the greatest players and, you know, you want to know everything that you can do, so, and rely on it and use it. You remember your childhood in Denison, Texas? I don't remember it much.

I remember, believe it or not, I do remember a few things, but nothing really worth mentioning, you know, my, my, my mom's brothers and my grandmother, they, they all grew up there and lived there forever and I remember moving away to Los Angeles and, and leaving and, you know, going from, you know, basically the country to the big city and, and making an adjustment in Los Angeles, it was great. I mean, there was a lot of people from Texas in Southern California, so, yeah, so it was great. Mike, when you were in high school, truth be told, you're a two sport athlete, you ran the mile relay, you took a breather, the other team that you were competing against, you know, figured the meat was over, they got on the bus, I guess they went to McDonald's or Derrick Queen, you came back in Long Jump, your team won the title, that record still holds true, with a Long Jump. Yeah. Well, so, you know, what's crazy is that day to win the track meet, I jumped 20 feet, three inches, and that stood out in my mind because the whole track meet came down to that

jump, 20 feet, three inches, so the next year, I ended up going 24 feet, 10 inches, because for a whole year, all I did was think about Long Jump, all I did was think about visualizing, running with my steps in the air and extending my legs and all that, that the very first jump of the year, I went 22 feet, five inches, and almost broke my ankles because our Long Jump Pit was only 23 feet long, you know, so they lengthened the pit, and yeah, that's a cool record, I don't think any battle will ever break it, I just don't. What did you understand or realized that you had something special to take you to that next level? I think when I was in college at Arizona State, we had so many guys that went onto the NFL, so I played against, well, with, guys like Steve Holden, who was a top draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, Woody Green, who was a top draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs, so many guys, you know, and receivers and running backs, and oh wow, you know, maybe

I can make it, so as a sophomore, I really started to change, I wanted to be a receiver most of the time until this kid named John Jefferson, John Washington, you know, when he was in high school here, he's from Dallas, when he came to Arizona State, it changed my career because I always thought I was a good receiver and better than anybody else there, but when he came, it changed everything, you know, I realized that I've never seen a wide receiver like him. Looking back at that 76 draft, there's a lot of Hall of Famers coming out of that draft. Yeah, we did, and we did have a lot of them. It was a good draft here, and for defensive backs, I think we had, I want to say four, going the first round, we had a lot of them, maybe five, but it was a good year for DBS, and when we would play in these all-star games, you know, postseason games, you had a chance to meet a lot of the players, you know, you knew that there were going to be some talented guys coming in the NFL.

With all the accolades you've received as a professional football player, what stands out the most? Well, when it comes to accolades, I'd have to say being inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and really being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I get to meet all these great players, and you realize how unique they are and how a lot of them started late, and really what makes them special, you try to figure it out, and they all seem to be kind of a cut from the same cloth, when it comes to hard workers, overcoming a lot of obstacles, wanting to be the best, willing to make changes, willing to sacrifice for the team, and those kinds of things. And I think that I have to say my experience in college playing for Coach Kush kind of got me ready for that, because I didn't high school, I didn't have any great coaches, I didn't have any, we only had two coaches, one coach offense and one coach defense, you know, but in college it was a little bit different, we had position coaches, and

I could talk to those guys, we had older players, I could talk to them, and they kind of schooled me, like there was a lot of things I didn't like, and I was like a rebel, you know, or I didn't mind a fight, sometimes I think I looked for fights, but you know, guys checked me, and basically, you know, told me what was going on, and just, you know, do my part, you know, and that's all that really matters if you do your part, and so I got a lot of good instruction early on and helped me have a great start to a pro career. My keep playing 14 seasons in the NFL, when did you start to think, because at some point this is all going to end, about a career after your first career? Yeah, well I didn't really want to think about that, and I actually thought that I would be able to be the one that would say when my career would end, you know, and so my last year was happening to be the same last year as Steve Largent, and but Steve Largent announced his, this was his last year, and so every place he went, they kind of celebrated

him, had a little celebration, like, you know, goodbye Steve, thank you for a great career, and all that, well I didn't do that, because I thought I had three more years, I didn't know it was my last year too, so, you know, it didn't end the way that I wanted it to end, but I really did have a great career, and I felt really blessed to be able to play on two great teams, a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players, and, you know, so many guys that I think should be in the Hall of Fame like Lester, I really think that Lester had a Hall of Fame career as a guy who made seven probals or six probals before even came to the Raiders. My Cain's Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback. If you have questions, comments or suggestions asked your future in Black America programs, email us at inblackamerica at kut.org. Also let us know what radio station you heard us over, remember to like us on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessary those of this station

or of the University of Texas at Austin, you can improve its programs online at kut.org. Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer David Alvarez, I'm Johnny O Hanson, Jr. Thank you for joining us today, please join us again next week. CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in black America CDs, KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard, Austin, Texas, 78712, that's in black America CDs, KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard, Austin, Texas, 78712. This has been a production of KUT Radio.