Pat Haden

Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is an American former professional football player and college administrator.

Haden and McKay shared the CIF Southern Section Player of the Year award in 1970.

When Haden's parents had to move again, he stayed with the McKays for his senior year of high school.

He was highly sought after and was recruited by many schools, including Notre Dame.

In 1973, he threw for 1,832 yards with 13 TD vs 11 INT.

In 1974, he threw for just 988 yards (in part due to 98 fewer pass attempts) but still threw 13 TD vs 11 INT.

Haden played one season in the World Football League, its last, for the Southern California Sun, which allowed him to attend school in England at Oxford University under his Rhodes Scholarship.

His decision to go to the United Kingdom for schooling hurt his NFL possibilities, as did a lack of height (5ft 10in) and arm strength, and he dropped to the seventh round of the NFL Draft.

He also played in the World Football League (WFL) for the Southern California Sun in 1975.

In the final game of his college career, the 1975 Rose Bowl, he was named co-Most Valuable Player.

Haden also was a recipient of the Today's Top V Award in 1975, which at the time honored five (now ten) senior student-athletes.

He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams from 1976 through 1981.

Haden made the Los Angeles Rams' roster in 1976 as the third quarterback, behind James Harris and Ron Jaworski.

When both Harris and Jaworski were injured, Haden was pressed into duty in the second game of the season.

Haden responded by playing mostly mistake-free football, letting running backs Lawrence McCutcheon and John Cappelletti shoulder the offensive load and passing only occasionally.

Harris returned to the lineup as starting quarterback and Haden went back to a backup role.

In a Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Harris played poorly in a 20–12 loss, and Rams head coach Chuck Knox was ordered by team owner Carroll Rosenbloom to bench Harris in favor of Haden.

This is documented in Knox's autobiography Hard Knox: The Life of an NFL Coach and William Rhoden's Third and a Mile: The Trials and Triumph of the Black Quarterback.

At the time of the quarterback change, Harris was the top-rated passer of the National Football Conference.

The NFL records show that Harris finished as the NFC's top-rated passer of 1976.

Despite the change, the Rams went on to win the NFC Western Division title and a 14–12 upset of the defending NFC champion Dallas Cowboys in the opening round of the NFC playoffs, but the Rams fell to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game.

The Rams revamped their quarterback position for the 1977 season.

Haden is a Rhodes Scholar, was a practicing attorney from 1982 to 1987, and was a partner at Riordan, Lewis & Haden, a private equity firm, from 1987 to 2010.

He is also known for his work as a former sportscaster, beginning with CBS Sports in 1982, and ending his career in that field as a color commentator for NBC Sports' Notre Dame football coverage.

Born in Westbury, New York, to working-class Irish American parents, Haden is the fourth of five children.

He had a close relationship with his mother, Helen Haden, who told her children to "Live your life so that you have standing room only at your funeral."

As a boy, Haden had a boyhood paper route, then worked at a shoe store where he also pushed accessories in order to earn an extra commission.

He had the same mentality in sports, where he used smarts and toughness he gained from keeping up with his older brothers to compensate for physical shortcomings.

By high school, his parents had moved to Southern California.

Haden played high school football at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California, where he became starting quarterback.

He became close friends with teammate J.K. McKay, son of then-USC football coach John McKay; the two were opposites: J.K. was quick-witted and easygoing, while Haden was more reserved.

He was put into the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 1988.

Haden was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1995.

Prior to College Football Haden and McKay won the CIF championship game in overtime against Lakewood High School.

The game was played at the LA Coliseum, where Haden would go on to lead the Trojans to many victories.

Haden and J.K. McKay joined the highly regarded USC Trojans under head coach John McKay; they joined a group of friends in living at an apartment building just off campus.

At USC, he made it to three Rose Bowl appearances and won two national championships.

He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1995.

An athletic and academic stand-out, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

He was the athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016.