Education
Hayden attended Arrowhead High School, before accepting a scholarship to play football for the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Hayden attended Arrowhead High School, before accepting a scholarship to play football for the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
He was selected by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin. In college he started the final 39 games of his career, registering 132 tackles, 10 sacks, one forced fumble, 6 fumble recoveries (third most in school history), 6 passes defensed and 2 blocked kicks.
Carolina Panthers
Hayden was selected in the sixth round (181st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers.
In 2010, he became a regular starter (10 games) at left defensive tackle, registering 51 tackles, one sack, 2 quarterback pressures and one pass defensed. He was waived on September 3, 2011.
Cincinnati Bengals
On December 7, 2011, he signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals and played in two games before being declared inactive for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. The next year, he suffered a high ankle sprained in the last preseason game and was waived injured on August 31.
Dallas Cowboys
After not playing in 2012, he was signed to a futures contract by the Dallas Cowboys on February 10, 2013, to provide depth in training camp.
The many injuries the team experienced in the defensive line allowed him to move up the depth chart and be named the team starter at left defensive tackle. Hayden proved to be a reliable player by starting all 16 games an playing solid against the run. He finished the year with the most tackles (51) and snaps (821) registered by a Cowboys defensive lineman.
He also had 16 quarterback pressures, 2 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one touchdown.
In 2014, he started 16 games and led the team"s defensive linemen with 52 tackles, while also registering 4 tackles for loss (tied for second on the team), 8 quarterback pressures and one pass defensed. In 2015, he didn"t start against the New England Patriots, when the team opened with only 3 defensive linemen.
He posted 15 starts, 54 tackles (4 for loss), 5 quarterback pressures and 2 passes defensed. NFL statistics