Ennis Haywood (December 5, 1979 – May 11, 2003) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Early years

Haywood attended Dallas Carter High School. As a senior, he had to overcome an injury to collect 800 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns and 85 tackles on defense. He received third-team All-area honors. He received honor roll recognition during all of his four years with a 3.50 GPA.

College career

Haywood accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he was the backup running back behind Darren Davis. He had 30 carries for 178 yards (5.9-yard avg.) and 2 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he remained the backup running back behind Davis, collecting 55 carries for 278 yards (5.1-yard avg.) and 3 touchdowns. He rushed for 178 yards and one touchdown in the season opener against

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

, after replacing an injured Davis. As a junior, he was named the starter at running back after Davis graduated, sharing the backfield with future NFL quarterback

Sage Rosenfels Sage Jamen Rosenfels (born March 6, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones and was selected by the Washington ...

. He registered 229 carries for 1,237 yards (led the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

), a 5.4-yard average, 8 touchdowns and 25 receptions for 211 yards. He rushed for 241 yards and 2 touchdowns against

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. He contributed to the team having a 9–3 record and posting the school's first

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

win. As a senior, he shared the backfield with future NFL quarterback Seneca Wallace. He registered 258 carries for 1,169 yards, a 4.5-yard average, 14 rushing touchdowns (tied for sixth in school history) and 20 receptions for 138 yards. He led the

in rushing and was ranked 10th nationally with a 123.7 rushing yards-per-game average, becoming the seventh Iowa State running back to reach 1,000 yards in at least 2 seasons, while contributing to the school having back to back

appearances. He had 189 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. He finished his college career with 2,862 rushing yards (fifth in school history), 27 rushing touchdowns (sixth in school history), 3,468 all-purpose yards (fourth in school history) and a 5.0 yards per carry average (second in school history). He only lost one fumble and Iowa State had a 12–0 record when Haywood rushed for 100 yards.

Professional career

Haywood was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

after the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

on April 29. He led the team in rushing during the pre-season with 31 carries for 120 yards. He was waived on September 1. He was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 3, where he remained for the rest of the season. On April 23, 2003, he was re-signed by the Cowboys to compete for a roster spot. In May, he participated in the team's three-day minicamp.

Death

Haywood was rushed to the hospital on May 10, 2003, after he began vomiting in his sleep and ceased breathing. On May 11, he was taken off life support at his family's request. It was later found that a mixture of prescription medications for Haywood's

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

and alcohol played a part in his death.

Personal life

Haywood was married with two children.

References

External links

*
Iowa State Football Great Ennis Haywood, Dead at 23
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Ennis 1979 births 2003 deaths American football running backs Iowa State Cyclones football players Dallas Cowboys players Drug-related deaths in Texas Alcohol-related deaths in Texas Players of American football from Dallas