Back in 1991, during the Run and Shoot days of Jerry Glanville, the Atlanta Falcons had the most exciting team in football. Now before a lot of you naysayers send me nasty emails questioning my football knowledge, think about the roster of that team. Deion Sanders led a very stingy defense, with Scott Case busting heads and Jessie Tuggle anchoring the middle. Chris Miller threw for over 3000 yards, connecting with Andre Rison 81 times that season; and also throwing to the best deep threat the team has ever had: Michael Haynes. The team went 10-6 that year, won a playoff game, and Michael Haynes led the NFL with a 22.4 yards per catch average. He also scored eleven touchdowns among his 50 catches. It was a good year to be a Falcons fan. Michael Haynes was a big reason why.
The 2000 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Celebrity Golf Tournament was held at The Trophy Club of Atlanta on September 26th. The outing showcased a great course, a sterling list of celebrities, and a lot of fun; all in the name of a great and worthwhile cause. Allen Haile of Big Ten Tires in Buckhead, one of the tournament sponsors, invited me to join his team for a day of golf and laughs. How could I turn that down?
Anytime you play in a charity outing, it's important to remember why you're there. Of course you want to play well, but odds are….you are at a great course, with a number of your friends, and benefiting a very good organization - it's pretty tough to turn any part of that equation into a bad day. Thus, having fun and feeling productive are paramount. We talked about these very things at breakfast, confirmed how fortunate we were to just be a part of the event, and then went to the course to "enjoy the day".
I had two preferences as we viewed the list of celebrities taking part in the tournament. Terrance Mathis, current Atlanta Falcons star receiver, or Michael Haynes, former star receiver for the Falcons. We put bids down on both. Mike Kenn, former Falcons star and current Fulton County Commission Chairman; Tim Simpson, 4 time winner on the PGA Tour, and Drew Hill, former Ga. Tech and NFL star were other considerations, but quite frankly, we couldn't afford them. I'll try next time Mr. Kenn.
As the bidding closed, we heard that Terrance Mathis was still recovering from an injury the previous Sunday (an ugly loss to the Rams) and would not be playing golf, so we guarded our bid on Michael Haynes until the bidding closed. I went out to the front to introduce myself to Michael, and we chatted for a few minutes about the Falcons - of past and of now. We briefly talked about golf and I knew we'd get along great. We started to walk back to the shop and I took a moment to say something out of the blue, completely forgetting the breakfast conversation. "Michael, as long as we're here, we might as well win the thing." He stopped and smiled, "might as well" he agreed. Again, I knew we'd get along great.
In 1992, I am not ashamed to admit I was the greatest video game football guru in the world. Sega Genesis Madden Football was my kingdom, and I ruled it with no mercy. If I was the Falcons, no team could stop me. My secret weapon, Michael Haynes, who himself admitted, "They made me pretty fast in that game." Oh sure he was very fast in real life, but geez, he could smoke any poor cornerback on a straight fly pattern on Sega, and they even had a receiver reverse on the game that was a guaranteed 50 yards everytime you ran it. That play won me a $20 bet in a Madden Super Bowl I played against a friend. (Yes, I had not taken up golf at that point and was sorely in need of a life.)
We started out on hole #15, a straight 4 man scramble played from the tips. Michael and Allen were veterans of the course, it was my first time on the lay-out. We talked a little about the strategy, the order we'd hit in, and of course, the importance of having fun. I did throw out that "I think it will take twelve under to win out here today". With the breeze and the length of the course from the tips, I wasn't real sure that any team was going to go that low, but it sounded good at the time.
We made par on our first two holes, and we were lucky to do that. Our celebrity was carrying us early, knocking drives down the middle and coaching us on where to place shots. Our low handicapper (me) was proving to be quite a handicap indeed. I was worthless for two holes.
We finally made a birdie with a long putt on hole #17, and followed it with a birdie on #18. I would like to brag on my group that we made a birdie without paying the $5 to move up to the red tees. After four holes, we were 2 under. As we waited to tee off on #1, there was a contest to see how far you could hit a ball from your opposite side. Allen did not win the contest, but did suffer the worst injury when he severely aggravated an old ankle injury as he swung from the left. This did not bode well for our team.
Michael Haynes graduated from Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Not only was he a stud on the football field, he was also Big Sky Conference 100 meter and 200 meter track champion. He played the better part of eleven years in the NFL, most of those with the Atlanta Falcons. He did leave the Falcons for the hated New Orleans Saints, but since he's from New Orleans, it was a homecoming of sorts and you can't really hold that against him. His only regret about playing for the Saints? That he couldn't play against the Saints…his best games seemed to always come against them.
Michael hit a long putt on #1 for a tough birdie, but we gave it back on #2 by making par on an easy par 5. We were even just off the green in two, and used 3 of our mulligans on the putt…and still made par. Sad, really. Oh, we did almost win a new SUV, missed it by one shot. (needed a "one on #3, we got a "two" – ha ha). Anyways, our putters came alive and we then went on a hot streak. I putted one in from off the green on #4, Allen (with his one good foot) hit a bomb on #5, and then Michael started hitting every putt he looked at. At one point, we had made six birdies in a row and the game was looking ridiculously easy.
Michael Haynes may have retired from football, but trading in his helmet for a 5 iron has not lessened his competitive spirit. His golf game has quickly become admirable, a consistent low 80s shooter who will dip into the 70s enough to let you know this guy has game. His driver is fairly long, but deadly accurate. When we needed him to paint the fairway, he seemed to always hit one square. His swing is long and fluid, though he says he has never taken a lesson. His fundamentals are solid and his swing is consistent, a hard combination to beat. But most impressive, even unbelievably so, this guy never seemed to miss a putt. He hit more 15 to 25 foot putts in a nine hole span than anyone I've ever seen. Even he seemed a bit embarrassed by it after awhile. An old, wooden putter with a Falcon's logo, you wouldn't think it would be so dead on accurate. Think again, the hole was as big as a basketball hoop for him when he was putting.
The group in front of us (Drew Hill's group) waited with us on the #10 tee box, and basically challenged us to try to reach that green in two. In fact, they told us it couldn't be done. Well, we did use a mulligan (each group got 8 collectively) to do it, but we did. An easy two putt birdie and we were now 10 under. At this point, we openly talked about winning the tournament. We made a disappointing par on the next hole, but the putters got hot once again and we made some very improbable birdies on #12 and #13. Allen's putt on #13 was a 30 foot downhill breaker that had no business being within 5 feet, much less going in. Sometimes, the golf gods just really smile down on you. We finished up with a tough par on #14 and I was reminded about my prediction on the first tee box. "You said twelve under would win it," Allen said. "Let's see if you were right."
As it turned out, twelve under was good enough to tie for first. The tiebreaker was done by the scorecard, and both teams had birdied the #1 handicap hole. The 2nd toughest hole was birdied by our team only, and we walked away champions of the tournament.
Winning was great, but honestly, it was only a capper to what had already been a great day. Michael Haynes was more than our token celebrity, he was a great golf partner. He helped read putts, he hit clutch shots, he marked off yardages, he told the right jokes, he was everything you could want in someone to fill out your foursome. (For $75, he better have been - kidding) The long touchdown bombs he used to catch for the Falcons are now secondary to the long bombs he hits for birdie on seemingly every other hole. Michael is now devoting his time to his golf game and being a full-time dad, and he's really doing a good job in both roles. I'd take him anytime to play in my group. Oh, and if we can put him on my Sony Playstation game……that wouldn't be so bad either.
