Dwayne Haskins

Dwayne Haskins

refer to caption Haskins with the Washington Football Team in 2020
No. 7, 3
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1997-05-03)May 3, 1997
Place of birth:	Highland Park, New Jersey
Date of death:
Place of death:	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Bullis School (Potomac, Maryland)
College:	Ohio State (2016–2018)
NFL draft:	2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 15
Career history
Washington Redskins / Football Team (2019–2020) Pittsburgh Steelers (2021)
Career highlights and awards
Chicago Tribune Silver Football (2018) Graham–George Offensive Player of the Year (2018) Griese–Brees Quarterback of the Year (2018) Sammy Baugh Trophy (2018) Kellen Moore Award (2018) 2019 Rose Bowl MVP First-team All-Big Ten (2018)
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT: 12–14 Passing yards: 2,804 Completion percentage: 60.1 Passer rating: 74.4 Rushing yards: 147 Rushing touchdowns: 1 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Dwayne Haskins Jr. (May 3, 1997 – April 9, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football at Ohio State, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy and was the 2019 Rose Bowl MVP as a sophomore. Haskins was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but was released after less than two seasons due to inconsistent play and questions over his work ethic. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021, where he played until his death during the following off-season.

Early life

Born in Highland Park, New Jersey, Haskins and his family moved to Potomac, Maryland, when he was in the ninth grade. There, he attended and played football at Bullis School from 2013–2016, where he passed for 5,308 yards and 54 touchdowns. He originally committed to the University of Maryland over Rutgers University to play college football, but later decided to attend Ohio State University after Maryland football coach Randy Edsall was fired mid-season.

College career

File:Dwayne Haskins (31124904497).jpg

Haskins with Ohio State in 2018

Haskins redshirted his first year with the Buckeyes in 2016. The following year, he was the backup to J. T. Barrett. He finished the season completing 40 of 57 passes for 565 yards and four touchdowns. Haskins then went on to have a record-setting campaign in his sophomore season in 2018, which was his lone starting season at the school. He claimed the single-season passing and touchdown records for Ohio State and the Big Ten by eclipsing the 4,000-passing yards mark and throwing 50 touchdowns, making him just one of seven NCAA quarterbacks to ever achieve the latter in a single season.

Additionally, he claimed school records in total offense in a season (4,900+ yards), total offensive yards in a game (477) and total passing yards in a game (470). In all 12 of his starts, he threw for more than 225 passing yards, including eight games of more than 300 yards, and four games of more than 400. He threw for 499 yards and five touchdowns in the 2018 Big Ten Football Championship Game, while throwing three touchdowns in the 2019 Rose Bowl, winning the MVP award in both games for his performance.

His performance also earned him first team All–Big Ten honors, as well as six Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards, the Graham–George Offensive Player of the Year, the Griese–Brees Quarterback of the Year, the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, and the Male Ohio State Athlete of the Year awards. He was also named as a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. In January 2019, Haskins announced that he would forgo his remaining two years of college football and enter the 2019 NFL Draft. As a student, he majored in journalism.

College statistics

Season	Games			Passing							Rushing
	GP	GS	Record	Comp	Att	Pct	Yards	TD	Int	Rate	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2016	0	0	—	Redshirt
2017	8	0	0–0	40	57	70.2	565	4	1	173.1	24	86	3.6	0
2018	14	14	13–1	373	533	70.0	4,831	50	8	174.1	79	108	1.4	4
Career	22	14	13–1	413	590	70.0	5,396	54	9	174.0	103	194	1.9	4

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 3⅜ in	231 lb	33½ in	9⅝ in	5.04 s	1.75 s	2.90 s			28½ in			25
All values from NFL Combine

Washington Redskins / Football Team

Haskins was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, 15th overall. Despite his high school and college jersey number of 7 being unofficially retired by the Redskins in honor of quarterback Joe Theismann, whose career ended with a leg injury in 1985, Haskins requested and was granted permission from him to wear it. Haskins signed his four-year rookie contract on May 9, 2019, worth $14.37 million, including an $8.47 million signing bonus.

2019 season

See also: 2019 Washington Redskins season

File:Dwayne Haskins 2019 (cropped).jpg

Haskins after his first win as a starting NFL quarterback, 2019

Haskins saw his first action with the team in a Week 4 game against the New York Giants in relief of Case Keenum, who was benched for poor performance. In the game, Haskins also struggled, throwing for 107 yards and three interceptions, including a pick-six, as the Redskins lost 24–3. During a Week 8 game against the Minnesota Vikings, Haskins again replaced Keenum, who left the game due to a concussion. He finished the game with 33 passing yards and an interception as the Redskins lost 19–9. The following week Haskins made his first career start against the Buffalo Bills, finishing with 144 passing yards as the team lost 24–9.

Haskins' first win as a starter came during Week 12 against the Detroit Lions, where he finished with 156 passing yards, 28 rushing yards, and an interception in the 19–16 victory. For his efforts, he was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week. In Week 16 against the Giants, Haskins threw for 133 yards and two touchdowns before being carted off the field due to an ankle injury suffered on the first play of the third quarter, which also made him miss the following week's game.

2020 season

See also: 2020 Washington Football Team season

Prior to the 2020 season, Haskins lost around seven-percent in total body fat and was named the starter and one of the team captains. In a Week 3 loss against the Cleveland Browns, Haskins threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. The following week against the Baltimore Ravens, he threw for a career-high 314 yards in another loss. Haskins was benched in favor of Kyle Allen prior to the Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Rams due to coaches being unimpressed with his work ethic and performance. In October 2020, he was fined US$4,833 for breaking league COVID-19 protocols after making a reservation for a family friend at the team hotel in New York prior to a game against the Giants.

Haskins remained as the team's backup until the Week 14 game against the San Francisco 49ers, where he played in the second half after Alex Smith left the game due to a calf strain. He then started the following week's game against the Seattle Seahawks as Smith had yet to recover from injury. In the game, Haskins threw for 295 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions during a 20–15 loss. Following the game, Haskins was photographed attending his girlfriend's birthday party without wearing a face mask. Due to breaking COVID-19 protocols again, he was fined $40,000 by the team and lost his status as a captain. Despite that, he started the Week 16 game against the Carolina Panthers but was benched for Taylor Heinicke in the fourth quarter after throwing 14 of 28 for 154 yards and two interceptions, finishing with a passer rating of 36.9 in a 20–13 loss. Haskins was released by the team the day after, with head coach Ron Rivera saying he believed that it benefited both parties if they went their separate ways.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Haskins signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 21, 2021. He was named the third-string quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph; he was inactive for all but one game.

On March 11, 2022, the Steelers placed an original-round restricted free agent tender on Haskins, and he signed the one-year contract on March 16.

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Year	Team	Games			Passing								Rushing				Sacks		Fumbles
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yards	Avg	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sck	SckY	Fum	Lost
2019	WAS	9	7	2−5	119	203	58.6	1,365	6.7	7	7	76.1	20	101	5.1	0	29	204	6	2
2020	WAS	7	6	1−5	148	241	61.4	1,439	6.0	5	7	73.0	20	46	2.3	1	20	141	6	3
2021	PIT	DNP
Career		16	13	3−10	267	444	60.1	2,804	6.3	12	14	74.4	40	147	3.7	1	49	345	12	5

Personal life

Haskins went by the nickname Simba, which was taken from the protagonist of the 1994 film The Lion King. He adopted it as a child due to him having an afro at the time that reminded his mother of a lion's mane. He used the nickname and the film's coming-of-age story as motivation and incorporated it into his personal clothing brand, Kingdom of Pride.

Haskins' mentor during high school and college was NFL wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, whom he met through Mohamed Jabbie, one of his best friends and Sanu's nephew. A New Jersey native, Haskins grew up a New York Giants fan. Haskins was married to Kalabrya Gondrezick-Haskins.

Death

Haskins died around 7 a.m. EDT (UTC-4) on April 9, 2022, when he was struck by a vehicle on a South Florida highway. He was in Florida to train with several of his Steelers teammates. Florida Highway Patrol stated Haskins was walking on Interstate 595 near Davie when he was struck by a dump truck while attempting to cross the westbound lanes of the highway and died at the scene.

External links

• Dwayne Haskins on Twitter
• Ohio State Buckeyes bio