Senior Day especially significant for Coyotes' Haynes
Senior Day typically is a special and memorable event for any athlete. It’s one of — if not the — final time they’ll compete on their home venue in front of family, friends, and peers.
The Kansas Wesleyan football team’s senior event is Saturday afternoon at JRI Stadium and Graves Family Sports Complex in conjunction with the Coyotes’ Kansas Conference game and season finale against Sterling. The group will be recognized before the 1 p.m. start.
For Jhalen Haynes the day will be a celebration of his accomplishments and perseverance off the field as well as what he has done on the field the last two years.
Just walking onto Gene Bissell Field for the ceremony will be representative of something that wasn’t necessarily a given two years ago.
“This next game is definitely something that I’m looking to,’” said Haynes, KWU’s starting strong safety. “Just to be able say ‘wow, I went through a lot of adversity and came out on top.’”
Haynes’ journey began April 22, 2021 during a routine track practice session and JRI Stadium. Working on his high jumping skills Haynes sped toward the elevated bar but didn’t get there, pulling up with what he thought was a hyperextended knee after slipping on the rain-slickened surface.
“I got up and walked to the trainer’s office,” Haynes said. “He said maybe it will just be an LCL ligament.”
It was that and much more.
“A few days later I went to (Salina Regional Health Center) for x-rays,” he said. “They came back that I had torn all the ligaments in my knee – ACL, LCL, MCL, PCL and a torn hamstring. The doctor said that we’d have to work on surgery as soon as possible.”
Haynes underwent reconstructive surgery May 11 – he has photos on his cellphone of the seven incisions that were made during the operation. A ligament from a cadaver was inserted as part of the surgery.
“Normally the surgery is supposed to last about two and a half hours; the doctor was in there for about five and a half hours working and reconstructing,” he said.
His journey was just beginning, though.
“After surgery I flew home and that’s when everything kind of started,” he said. “I was on bed rest for about two weeks. I sat in my room and cried a few times about not being capable able to walk, not being able to run, jump, play or anything like that. The doctors thought I would have dropped foot and they thought I wouldn’t be able to walk really ever again.
“I would get overly frustrated. There was one moment when I was at church and walked up to the front and started crying because I couldn’t believe that this kind of injury happened to me. It just normally doesn’t happen and I couldn’t understand why.”
Haynes was ready call it quits and not return to KWU. Fortunately, his mother Trina intervened.
“She said ‘you should definitely do it. This is not just about football, it’s about you becoming as a young man,’” he said.
The turning point came soon after.
“It didn’t really start to happen for me until I made the decision to get up and use the restroom myself. I didn’t ask for help,” he said. “I made the decision to go do my (physical therapy) on my own with the doctor’s prescription.”
Months of arduous rehabilitation followed. Haynes initially tried to be around the Coyotes but found it too painful.
“I told myself I wanted to separate because I couldn’t have the season that I wanted,” he said. “I just didn’t want to be around anyone because I so badly wanted to play and wanted to contribute.”
Haynes ultimately realized the biggest obstacle was himself.
“It was not the physical aspect of the pain but the mental aspect of having to retrain myself and having to remind myself you may feel like you’re not where you want to be but you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be,” he said.
“That kept me going and allowed me to go to the weight room by myself and lift weights. I would go to Indian Rock to workout, run the rock and just tell myself my knee may not feel how it’s supposed to but I’m going to do whatever it takes. I gradually started to get better and better.”
Haynes credits KWU’s coaches for keeping him motivated.
‘I’m very appreciative, especially coach (Matt) Myers, coach (David) Leonard and coach (James) Bauer,” he said. “They definitely saw me in my lowest moments where I could not handle some of the stress but were able to remind me, ‘we’re here when you are having those moments of frustration.’”
Haynes return to the football field for the 2022 season, 17 months after the injury occurred. He has played cornerback, linebacker, the hybrid shark position and now safety. He has 51 tackles, three for loss and three pass breakups so far this season.
Haynes was disappointed following the Coyotes’ 27-24 overtime loss at Ottawa last week in Ottawa that ended their NAIA postseason hopes.
He has been able to put the setback in perspective, though, and is looking forward to playing the game he loves with the team he loves one more time.
“The games in November are the games you remember,” he said. “I thought last week was the biggest game of my life (playing) for a (KCAC championship) ring. Then I texted my mom and she said ‘just look how far you’ve come.’
“I truly am grateful just to have had the experience that I had. I wouldn’t trade it in for the world.”
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Senior Day especially significant for Coyotes' Haynes
