Dayon Hayes’ family can’t wait to hail Panthers’ only city public schools grad
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During University of Pittsburgh football games, Dayon Hayes would love to be able to look up from the sidelines at Heinz Field and see his family and friends from Westinghouse High School in the stands. The only Pittsburgh Public Schools alum on the Panthers’ roster could easily fill a section of seats on the North Shore. But COVID- 19 has made that impossible.
“It is weird people not being there,” Dayon said Sunday. “I do better when people are watching me.”
Imagine how special it would have been if his family had been there when he sacked the quarterback on the first play of his college career. Even if she had watched the game on TV, his mother never expected the freshman defensive end to get playing time in Pitt’s first game against Austin Peay State University. Instead, she went grocery shopping at Giant Eagle.
“People started calling me, ‘ Dayon’s on the field!” said Nevada Webb, of Homewood. “If I could have turned around in traffic, I would have.”
Luckily, she got home in time to see Dayon’s second big play, a strip sack of the quarterback on the last play of the game, a 55- 0 Pitt rout on Sept. 12.
“I was ecstatic,” Nevada said. “I was excited to see him on the sidelines. I never expected this!”
Dayon hasn’t gotten on the field since, not during home wins against Syracuse and Louisville or a 3029 home loss Saturday against North Carolina State.
I know I wasn’t the only one hoping to see the 6- foot3, 250- pound sack master
( he had 23 ½ for Westinghouse in 2019) on the gridiron Saturday when N. C. State was marching down the field late in the game.
Dayon knows that’s unlikely because he backs up Pitt’s senior defensive ends Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones II. “They’re trying to prepare me for next year,” Dayon said. “I’m ready.”
And his family is ready to watch Dayon in person — even if he’s just standing on the sidelines. Pitt athletic officials hope to be able to allow fans into Heinz Field sometime soon, but that will depend on the number of coronavirus cases in the area.
Each Pitt football player gets four free tickets for family members. If he needs more, he can usually work a trade with a teammate who may need extra tickets for another game. That process has allowed me and my wife to watch our nephew, Blake Haubeil, kick for Ohio State University over the past three years.
It’s hard to describe the thrill of watching college football from right behind the players’ benches at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio. If not for Blake’s big leg, I would never have experienced the odd blend of excitement and terror at sitting high in Happy Valley’s Beaver Stadium during a Penn State University whiteout game. When Ohio State won, 27- 26, in 2018, we pulled our dark blue jackets over our Ohio State gear and ran for the car.
Dayon’s mother is looking forward to someday watching his Pitt Panthers do the same to their Atlantic Coast Conference foes. Nevada will need all four of their tickets for her and Dayon’s siblings — sisters Jordan Wright, 17 and Dorian Webb, 15, and brother Armont’e Andrews, 5. She hopes to get a few more tickets for his grandmother, Andrea Carter, and aunt, Whitney Morgan, 23, both of the Hill District, his girlfriend, Serenity Neal, and his 1year- old daughter, Shantel Neal Hayes.
Dayon says Shantel is his No. 1 reason for choosing Pitt over Ohio State, Texas A& M, Mississippi State and the 60 other colleges that recruited him.
“My dad wasn’t in my life growing up,” he said. “If I left, I wouldn’t get to see her much.”
His coaches at Westinghouse took turns visiting colleges with him. When Dayon visited Ohio State and thought about committing, his nearly lifelong mentor, Lou Giordano, of Youngstown, Ohio, cautioned him not to hurry his decision. And his grandmother cried at the thought of him leaving.
“I love my grandmother a lot,” Dayon said. “I lived with her for a while. She said, ‘ I want you here with me.’”
Pitt fans can also thank Andrea for convincing 5year- old Dayon to stick with football.
“The older boys were rougher than he was,” Nevada said. “He didn’t want to go back. My mother said, ‘ You started this and you’re gonna finish.’”
Pitt and Westinghouse fans have only Dayon to thank for turning himself around in ninth grade. He wasn’t working hard in class.
“I didn’t care for school. I was messing up,” he said. “I realized I needed school to play football. I realized I’m better than what I think I am.”
Dayon started making honor roll, and when recruiters came calling, they were delighted with the athlete’s grades.
When Serenity became pregnant, Nevada said her then- 17- year- old son took on even more responsibility, going to doctor’s appointments with Serenity and working after school at Waterworks Cinemas, fastfood restaurants and other jobs.
“For him to be a teenage father, keep a job and go to school, he’s doing great,” Nevada said. “He was trying to be the young man he grew up to be.”
Dayon credits his success not only to his immediate family but to his network of aunts and cousins.
“I was raised around a lot of females, not a lot of males. They showed me nothing but love,” he said.
He would like nothing more than to show his thanks on the football field, maybe with a sack, and to look up at their cheering faces in the stands. Hail to Pitt, and to the Pittsburgh kid.