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Rex Haynes, son of ASU legend Mike Haynes, discusses ASU legacy offer

Rex Haynes had just returned home from a 6 a.m. high school football workout. His dad was on the phone when he arrived back at his San Diego home with who he figured was some coach. He waltzed upstairs nonchalantly, playing off the thought that anything out of the ordinary was occurring.


Then his dad bellowed from the first floor.


“Hey Rex,” he said, “I have a call for you.”


He shuffled downstairs, suspicious that his dad didn’t bother to mention who was on the other end. It was ASU coach Herm Edwards.


“I was shocked when I realized who I was talking to,” Haynes said. “And then he offered me … I tried to bottle it all up and not show too much emotion on the phone, but as soon as I hung up with him, I was holding back tears. It’s like a dream of mine.”

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A dream of his and the hope of his father, Mike Haynes -- a College Football and NFL Hall of Famer who spent his collegiate years in Tempe playing under legendary coach Frank Kush. Mike Haynes always used to tell his son stories of the grueling, 100-degree practices Kush used to push the Sun Devils through. He would always speak about his days in the desert, how much pride he took in being an ASU alum.

Perhaps it was only natural Haynes would hope to follow in his dad’s historic footsteps.


“It’s always been in my mind. I have his old ASU jersey hanging on my wall, so I see it every day. It motivates me,” Haynes said. “I just like everything about ASU.”


Haynes, a wide receiver in the class of 2022, took an unofficial visit to Tempe for the Sun Devils’ November loss to USC. It was his first time at his dad’s alma mater since he was a young kid, getting a chance to see the school not as just a fan, but as a recruit with the opportunity to play between the buttes.

Arizona State joins Colorado State as the two schools that have offered the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Haynes ahead of his junior season. Though many would view an initial power-five offer as a weight lifted or comfort secured, Haynes said it’s already making him wanting to work harder.


Maybe it was just trying to burn off his excitement or live up to the offer, but right when he got off the phone with Edwards, he dropped to the ground and began busting out pushups.


“It just gives you just a super boost of adrenaline, and you get super excited,” Haynes said of the pushups. “(Getting a power-five offer), I feel it just makes me that much hungrier.”


Playing at San Diego power Cathedral Catholic High, Haynes said coaches have constantly told him that he was able to effectively use his 6-foot-4 frame to turn 50-50 balls into 80-20 advantages.


“I have an explosiveness to me where I’ll make a big play, and it just kind of happens fast,” Haynes said. “I like running every route. I like returning kicks, punts. I also want to try and get on the defensive side of the ball, too.”

And that, in essence, shows Mike Haynes’ ability to step back and let his son transform into his own person. Haynes said his father never pushed him to play defensive back as he did for so many years, never tried to steer him down a certain path.


“My dad is my role model, and I try and do everything I can the way he does it because he believes in doing everything right,” Haynes said. “I just try and pick his brain a lot. He’ll come to me and give me different types of advice. We talk all the time -- we’re very close.”


Haynes still has two years of high school remaining. Among his top goals, he wants to run a sub-11-second 100-meter dash in track and finish out his high school football career without another loss. For now, the comparisons to his father have been tame -- and perhaps that’s a good thing.


But the pressure of having a father who holds every accolade in football also comes with the opportunity to learn from him, to grow because of him.


“It’s definitely big shoes to fill, Haynes said, “but I’m trying to do my best to fill them.”

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