University of Connecticut Athletics
With dreams of the NFL and owning a restaurant ahead of him, Christian Haynes focuses on the present
8/6/2023 8:39:00 AM | Football
The 2022 All-American offensive linemen returns to Storrs for his redshirt senior season with UConn.
Donning his white and navy Nike pullover, it's evident Christian Haynes is big enough to be a football player.
What he describes himself as first, though, is a student.
"I'm Christian Haynes, I am a grad student here at UConn," Haynes says into the microphone, a 5th grader next to him and a green screen of Rentschler Field behind.
Only then does Haynes approach the next part of his identity.
"I'm also a football player," he adds. "I play offensive line."
That was in May of this year.
"I went up to that school with my grad program," Haynes, the redshirt senior who is working towards a masters in sports management, tells me. "It was a fun experience going up there in the Hartford area. Those kids were nice and cool."
Once upon a time, Haynes, too, was just a kid. And while he was named a 2022 All-American offensive lineman by the Associated Press and Sporting News — the third All-American Husky in the FBS era — he didn't always dream of playing that position.
"So I always played offensive line, but flag football I used to play running back too, because I was big but I was always so fast," Haynes said. "So my coach said, 'If we get up 21-0 before halftime, next half I'll let you run the football.'"
Haynes ran the ball well enough that his pee wee coaches eventually put him in as the running back in goal line formations.
Eventually, though, his skill at offensive line won out. Haynes was a two-star prospect out of Bowie High School, and he received offers from Virginia and Connecticut.
"I came to UConn to get a different culture," Haynes explained. "I'm from Bowie, Maryland, which is more of a suburban culture. And I wanted to get farther away from home, but not that far."
His time at UConn has been amazing.
Since Covid-19 canceled what would have been his junior season, Haynes has been at UConn since 2018. He's matured a lot, and he's watched the team mature, too.
"Coach Mora coming in has been amazing since day one," Haynes said of the coaching change. "He's been a role model, a teacher, and really a great coach for us… Having experience in the NFL and NCAA, I'm proud to be a player for him."
While Haynes could have declared for the NFL Draft last year, he wasn't quite done at UConn. He attributes his decision to multiple factors: "unfinished business, wanting to develop as a player, also wanting to get my masters degree."
"I just felt like it wasn't my time to leave yet," Haynes said. "I feel like I picked the right decision, and it's only gonna be up from last year."
If Haynes can manage to improve on what was a remarkable campaign for him and the Huskies in 2022 — Haynes won his own accolades while helping fuel a rushing attack that averaged nearly 200 yds per game — his draft stock will only improve.
For advice on his future in the NFL, Haynes doesn't have to look far.
Marcus Haynes, Christian's brother, is a rookie NFL linebacker for the Broncos after having played at Old Dominion. The advice he's given Christian?
"Take every rep as a game rep," Haynes said. "There are no plays off. You gotta hustle everywhere you go. You gotta be a pro at everything you do."
As important as the next step is for him, Haynes is currently just focused on the season ahead. And rather than personal accolades, he's putting the team first.
"As [offensive line coach Gordon] Sammis says, the team goes as we go," Haynes said, referencing the offensive line "We're such a tight knit group, and we're going to play our best every time. We don't want to be just average or good."
To accomplish that, Haynes says he and the offensive line regularly meet outside of official practices and lifts to put in extra work. It's something the two-time captain knows he needs to do.
"I have to come in knowing people are looking up to me every day, in anything I do," Haynes said. "Everything that I do is getting judged by someone else… If they see me working my butt off and hustling, they're gonna start working their butt off and hustling."
That has always been Haynes' philosophy: Work hard. Play the next snap harder.
"I can't just dwell on the past," Haynes said, recounting the assortment of personal accolades he won last year. "So I got 2nd Team All-American — I'll go for 1st Team… I'm trying to better myself for next year and then try to go get it again, and do it better."
While Haynes feels honored to win personal accolades, he's more proud to set an example for his team.
"[My teammates will] be like, 'If Christian's doing this — he's getting these All-American accolades, he's one of the best — what is he doing every day?'" Haynes explained. "And then [they're] gonna try to replicate that."
Haynes knows how it works because he used to be on the other side — on the outside looking in.
During Haynes' freshman and sophomore seasons, he looked up to fellow offensive lineman Matt Peart, who was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Giants. Also his role model during those two years was Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones, another 2020 third round pick who the offensive line faced off against in practice.
New to Haynes' repertoire this year is the ability to snap the ball. While Haynes has typically played guard, he's taken snaps during spring and fall camp as a center. This, Haynes says, will help improve his draft stock and the team.
"It's gonna help me with my versatility going to the next level," Haynes said. "It will show that I can play both center and guard, or really any position they need me to play."
Whatever position he plays this fall, Haynes will have a vibrant support team at his games.
While "at times they had to pick and choose what games they wanted to go to" when brother Marcus played for Old Dominion and other brother Jonathan played for Stony Brook, this year Haynes' parents will "travel up to games as much as they can," Haynes said. And so will Haynes' girlfriend. "They give me a lot of support, and I'm grateful."
As to what he'll do when his playing career is over, Haynes is not particularly sure yet. One thing he will use, however, is his sports management degree.
"I'll probably get back into college football somehow, or try to help out kids trying to get up into that higher level — the college level," Haynes said. "Something that's dealing with younger adults."
He also has dreams of one day opening a restaurant. It's what he told the 5th grader that day, and he says it still holds true.
There might, however, be a problem.
"My favorite animal is a pig," Haynes says, telling me it all started when he watched Babe and Charlotte's Web. "When I get older and settle down, I'm gonna have a pet teacup pig as a pet. Probably a dog, too, but like a nice house pig."
As he's always been a team-first guy, Haynes says he'll initially hold off on cutting pork from the menu.
"It's the people's choice," Haynes says, laughing. "But I feel like once I get a pig I might stop eating pork."
