Hayden Hays

[FUPlayer74]

Former player, coach, and staunch supporter, Hayden Hays passed today. He will be missed.
PHIC.

[Bootie]

Fantastic guy. Purple through and through. Every Sunday morning he'd come into church a little early while I was setting up, and whatever happened in Furman sports that Saturday or the week before, we'd talk about it. I'm gonna miss him and those moments.

In all likelihood, the service will be held here at First Baptist in Greenville. As soon as I hear any new details I'll share here.

Who remembers any details of his time at Furman? What position did he play? Share your memories if you will.

[ccoates]

Fantastic guy. Purple through and through. Every Sunday morning he'd come into church a little early while I was setting up, and whatever happened in Furman sports that Saturday or the week before, we'd talk about it. I'm gonna miss him and those moments.

In all likelihood, the service will be held here at First Baptist in Greenville. As soon as I hear any new details I'll share here.

Who remembers any details of his time at Furman? What position did he play? Share your memories if you will.

Sorry to hear of Hayden's passing.

I was a Freshman manager for the 1963 team, which was 7-3 with a victory over Vanderbilt. Hayden was a senior and intimidated the new arrivals, not without some enjoyment. That was one of the last years that players went both ways. Hayden was an end who played mostly on defense. I do remember him stretching full length to catch what turned out to be the winning TD against Wofford at old Snyder Field.

Players of that era were not as large as they are now. Hayden weighed in at around 210 or so, but he wore the biggest helmet we could find. His hat size was such that his nickname was "Warpy." I don't think he was particularly fond of that name, because it kind of faded from the vocabulary after his playing days. He was a tough competitor who had an Eastwood-like glare when provoked, and he loved to lead ribald songs in the shower after practice.

[FUBeAR]

Not from memory as I am not that old...yet...

looks like he caught a few balls for the Paladins in ththe early 60’s:
Receiving Rushing Scrimmage
Year School Conf Class Pos G Rec Yds Avg TD Att Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg TD
1961 Furman Southern WR 10 1 28 28.0 0 1 28 28.0 0
1962 Furman Southern WR 10 2 28 14.0 0 2 28 14.0 0
1963 Furman Southern WR 10 1 6 6.0 0 1 6 6.0 0
Career Furman 4 62 15.5 0 4 62 15.5 0


Looks like he was a “strong end” & if you ever wondered who was FU’s QB before “Sammy “ Wyche took the reins, you can find it in this article: https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield- ... 1963-p-24/

Looks like he, #82, a 6-2/210 Sr. from Decatur, GA caught a ball @ FSU in front of 12,000 as Furman fell to the Seminoles by quite a few. http://www.nolefan.org/ref/f1963_11_02_sid.pdf (This one is really cool. Check it out.)

Joined the FU Football Coaching Staff in 1968 after Coaching at Commerce (GA) HS for 3 years: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington ... 1968-p-15/ (bottom left corner)

[bigpurple75]

Any funeral arrangement updates?

[Bootie]

Yep, just got em...

Monday, July 23 at First Baptist Greenville
847 Cleveland St.
Greenville, SC 29601

Visitation at 1pm
Funeral at 2pm

[bigpurple75]

thanks.

[FUKA61]

The service will be Monday at the First Baptist Church. 1pm visitation and 2pm memorial service.

Hayden was a great person who came to FU in the fall of 1960(my senior year). We were fortunate that Hayden chose to be a KA. This was back in the days of freshman teams but Hayden was a starter for three years being used primarily as a blocker. He was President of the Paladin Club and for many years gave a half scholarship. He will be missed.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

[hawg]

Hayden and I kidded around at church. Earlier this year I was cleaning out some stuff at home and came across a student newspaper from 1968 that happened to have an article an picture. It was announcing his being hired as an assistant coach by Coach King. I delivered the paper to him the following Sunday and I could see that he was touched, though he tried to hide it. Great guy. We are missing a good one. Sam Wyche and Billy Turner, both teammates of Hayden, spoke about the man and the football player. Apparently they met on the practice field on occasion, and with gusto.