Background
Hayden grew up in the town of Bullaburra in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia.
gridiron football player rugby union player
Hayden grew up in the town of Bullaburra in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia.
He graduated from Blue Mountains Grammar School. Hayden transferred to the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado where he completed his degree and moved from basketball to rugby union.
Smith also spent two years playing professional American football as a tight end for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He went on to study Finance at the New York Institute of Technology. Smith resumed playing rugby competitively in 2008.
Within weeks of starting he played for the All-American Team and following his graduation, had started to play with the Denver Barbarians.
Soon after joining the Barbarians, he was named 2008 Rugby All-American. Smith joined the professional English side Saracens Football Club in the 2008/09 season on an academy contract.
He made his academy debut against Newcastle Falcons in the 2008/09 season. His performances for the academy team Saracens Storm quickly saw him elevated to the first team squad.
In international rugby, Smith was a regular with the United States. national team, for which he qualified on residency grounds.
He made his test debut on November 8, 2008 against Uruguay. Smith helped his country qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup during which he started all 4 group stage matches for the United States. After the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Smith took a hiatus from rugby.
Smith was looking at the possibility of playing American football in the National Football League and had a workout with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints.
The New York Jets signed Smith on April 3, 2012. He was waived on August 31, 2012.
A day later, he was signed to the Jets" practice squad. On October 27, 2012, he was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad.
He caught his first and only NFL pass on December 23, 2012.
He was released on August 26, 2013. On 9 December 2013 it was announced that Hayden had re-signed for Saracens on a long term deal. In January 2014, Smith played his first professional rugby match for Saracens since returning from the NFL. Smith resumed playing for the United States in March 2014 in the qualifying matches for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
He also played for the United States. in the June 2014 Pacific Nations Cup.