Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is an American former professional football player and college administrator. He was the athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams from 1976 through 1981. He also played in the World Football League (WFL) for the Southern California Sun in 1975.
Haden is a Rhodes Scholar, was a practicing attorney from 1982 to 1987, and was a partner at Riordan, Lewis & Haden, a private equity firm, from 1987 to 2010. He is also known for his work as a former sportscaster, beginning with CBS Sports in 1982, and ending his career in that field as a color commentator for NBC Sports' Notre Dame football coverage.
Biography
Early years
Born in Westbury, New York, to working-class Irish American parents, Haden is the fourth of five children. He had a close relationship with his mother, Helen Haden, who told her children to "Live your life so that you have standing room only at your funeral."
As a boy, Haden had a boyhood paper route, then worked at a shoe store where he also pushed accessories in order to earn an extra commission. He had the same mentality in sports, where he used smarts and toughness he gained from keeping up with his older brothers to compensate for physical shortcomings. By high school, his parents had moved to Southern California.
Playing career
High school career
Haden played high school football at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California, where he became starting quarterback. He became close friends with teammate J.K. McKay, son of then-USC football coach John McKay; the two were opposites: J.K. was quick-witted and easygoing, while Haden was not. Haden and McKay shared the CIF Southern Section Player of the Year award in 1970. When Haden's parents had to move again, he stayed with the McKays for his senior year of high school. He was highly sought after and was recruited by many schools, including Notre Dame. Haden was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1995.
College career
Prior to College Football Haden and McKay won the CIF championship game in overtime against Lakewood High School. The game was played at the LA Coliseum, where Haden would go on to lead the Trojans to many victories.
Haden and J.K. McKay joined the highly regarded USC Trojans under head coach John McKay; they joined a group of friends in living at an apartment building just off campus. At USC, he made it to three Rose Bowl appearances and won two national championships. In the final game of his college career, the 1975 Rose Bowl, he was named co-Most Valuable Player. Haden also was a recipient of the Today's Top V Award in 1975, which at the time honored five (now ten) senior student-athletes. He was put into the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1995. An athletic and academic stand-out, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.
In 1973, he threw for 1,832 yards with 13 TD vs 11 INT. In 1974, he threw for just 988 yards (in part due to 98 fewer pass attempts) but still threw 13 TD vs 11 INT.
Professional career
Haden played one season in the World Football League, its last, for the Southern California Sun, which allowed him to attend school in England at Oxford University under his Rhodes Scholarship. His decision to go to the United Kingdom for schooling hurt his NFL possibilities, as did a lack of height () and arm strength, and he dropped to the seventh round of the NFL Draft.