The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Haden looking to bounce back
Joe Haden
POSITION » cornerback HEIGHT, WEIGHT » 5-foot-11, 195 pounds BIRTHDATE » April 14, 1989 YEARS PRO » Eighth season COLLEGE » Florida RANKING » Sixth of 25 HADEN’S BACKGROUND
» Haden, appropriately enough, attended Friendly High School in Maryland – appropriate because he is one of the friendliest players on the Browns roster.
He is the oldest of five brothers, all who have first names beginning with the letter J – Joe, Josh, Jordan, Jacob and Jonathan.
Joe Haden was named the Special Olympics Goodwill Ambassador in 2015, becoming the first NFL player to hold that position. His brother Jacob is a Special Olympics athlete.
Haden spends much of the offseason out of town, either in Florida, Los Angeles or at the family home in Maryland, yet he is heavily involved in many charitable endeavors in the Cleveland area with the primary goal of aiding needy children. He founded the “Haden nation” ticket program, which provides tickets, apparel and food for the Children’s Hunger Alliance and Fatima Family Center.
He made a donation to the Cleveland Food Bank that helped feed 40,000 families. On July 21, just six days before the start of training camp, he ran a free football clinic at University School in Hunting Valley for 200 youngsters.
WHY HADEN IS RANKED SIXTH » There was a time Haden was arguably the second best player on the Browns roster behind Joe Thomas, but two sub-par seasons have changed that. Still, left cornerback is the most important position in the secondary, so Haden is still a critical part of the team even if he isn’t as dominant as he once was.
2016 RECAP » Two concussions shortened Haden’s 2015 season to five games. Last year, he injured both groins but fought through the injuries and played in 14 games. He had surgery on both groins in January. The Browns gave up 36 passing touchdowns in 2016. Haden wasn’t responsible for all of them, but he is guilty of being associated with a secondary that had little help
from the pass rush.
WHY HADEN IS IMPORTANT FOR 2017 » This is a passhappy league, and even though injuries have robbed him of his dominance, Haden is still the most reliable cornerback on the roster, which means he’ll be on Antonio Brown when the Browns open their season on Sept. 10 against the Steelers. No matter the defensive coordinator, Haden is usually assigned the opponent’s best receiver. Training camp and preseason will reveal whether new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has the same opinion. PREDICTION FOR 2017 » Haden has put in a strong offseason to get to his Pro Bowl form of 2013 and 2014. Fired defensive coordinator Ray Horton was a player-friendly coach. Williams isn’t. Williams has put everybody on notice that he won’t play favorites. If Haden needs any extra motivation to work hard – his own pride should be enough – Williams will provide it.