How an NFL Hero Took on Cancer

A Q&A with former defensive back Mike Haynes

Updated 1:07 PM EST, Fri, Jun 26, 2009

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Oakland Raiders Organization

Mike Haynes was one of the NFL's top defensive players for more than a decade. He was drafted in the first round by the Patriots, won a Super Bowl with the Raiders and was inducted into the Hall of Fame with football legends. Then he found out he had prostate cancer – and for a time, it seemed his world crashed down around him.

Now Haynes is a spokesman for the American Urological Association Foundation. He lives his life to the fullest and is committed to health education -- for himself and others. Here's his story.

Q: How'd you get started in football? What was the most memorable moment of your career?

A: Sports have played a major role in my life. I grew up with a love for baseball, basketball, track & field and football. Our little East Los Angeles neighborhood was loaded with kids and the primary thing our family enjoyed doing with other families was playing sports.

Mike Haynes, his wife Gigi (left) and three of their children.

I started playing organized tackle football my sophomore year of high school. Our team had a great coach and we won a lot of games. That experience is what hooked me on wanting to play. My senior year I was selected to play in a high school all star game in the Los Angeles Coliseum, which was then the home field for the LA Rams. My performance in that game provided me an opportunity to receive an athletic scholarship to the Arizona State University.

While in college at the Arizona State Univ our teams ranked in the top 10 three out of my four years there. I played with several talented offensive and defensive players that went on to have careers in professional football. Our teams played in three Fiesta Bowl games and we were on the winning side of all of them. I was rated one of the top players in my position in the country. My senior year I was voted the defensive team captain and our team went undefeated - and should have been ranked number 1.

I was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1976 by the New England Patriots. I played seven years for them and finished my career playing another seven years for the Los Angeles Raiders. Our 1983 Raider team defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

My most memorable moments have been the high school, college and professional Bowl games that I played in. Super Bowl XVIII and being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997 are by far the most memorable. I was enshrined into the Hall of Fame with three of the biggest contributors to the development of pro football: Don Shula, NFL head coach; Wellington Mara, NY Giants owner and Mike Webster, Pittsburgh Steelers player.

Q: What was it like when you found out you had cancer? How did you cope?

A: I don't think I coped with the news very well in the beginning. I was depressed and anxious about the unknowns. My primary concern was for my family. I have six kids. Three are adults and three are under the age of 9. If something happened to me, would my wife and kids would be all right? For quite a while, I didn't share my diagnosis with anyone except my wife. Fortunately, my wife was able to cope with the news better than I was. Hearing about my diagnosis she began searching the Internet and reading everything she could find about the disease. She got me in better physical condition and got me focused on dealing with my illness in a positive way. The more she learned the more we learned, which helped when we met with my urologist. He was great and provided a lot of comforting information about my various options.

Q: What would you tell others in similar situations?

A: First of all, men need to realize that nutrition and fitness are only part of having a good health plan. They also need to be educated about their family's health history. Most importantly, they need to get a baseline score to start tracking their PSA scores. Take a pro-active approach to learn more about urology health.

Early detection is the best way to stay alive. If prostate cancer is diagnosed early, there are plenty of options. I would tell others exactly what survivors said to me. Prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer and they have time to decide things. Don't rush to make a decision. You can still live a great life.

Q: What was the hardest adjustment? What was your most important learning lesson?

A: Since the surgery, the adjustments have not been too difficult. I still have a little bit of an incontinence problem but it's expected to get better every day. Everything else is fine. So my biggest adjustments have been positive. I spend more quality time with my family. I include my wife in more of my initiatives and I try not to take my health for granted. I have really started to get educated about healthcare and insurance and spend more time educating others about my findings.

The most important lesson is that we all have to take some responsibility to get educated about our health.

Q: Why did you decide to become a spokesman for the AUA Foundation?

A: My wife and I were totally unaware of the facts regarding prostate cancer and we want to make sure that that changes for others. We didn't know that every year 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer nor did we know that 1 in 3 or half of them would be African American. And that more than half of the men that die from the disease are African American. Being an African American you would think I would have read something about this or my primary care doctor or my healthcare provider would have repeatedly informed me about this. Right? The scary thing is to think that maybe they did and I chose to ignore it.

Q: What's your role/message?

A: My wife and I are committed to helping the AUAF get the word out about this disease. We believe that by sharing the research and raising awareness about the disease and getting men screened at 40, or earlier in some cases, the mortality rate will be significantly reduced. You'd be hard pressed to find an adult man or woman that doesn't know the importance of women feeling for lumps in their breast. We want to change the current paradigm and see something similar for prostate cancer. My wife is planning to write a book to help other women deal with this kind of issue.

Q: We know you played for the Raiders and the Patriots, but do you have any love for New York teams?

A: I've been involved in sports my entire life. Being a professional athlete and working in the NFL league office I know firsthand how difficult it is to win. All of the teams here in New York have enjoyed success at one time or another. I have a great appreciation for all the New York teams.