JMU Alum Charles Haley Finally Gets Hall of Fame Call
After 11 years on the ballot, and 6 years as a finalist, former JMU football player Charles Haley was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Haley played 12 years in the NFL with the San Fransisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He was a Pro Bowler 5 teams and an All Pro selection twice. He is most famous for being the only player in NFL history to have won 5 Super Bowls, two with San Fransisco and three with Dallas.
At JMU, Haley was simply a beast. He earned four varsity letters during his time with the Dukes between 1982 and 1985. He was AP All America twice. He was JMU’s Defensive MVP a ridiculous 3 times and JMU named the award after him in 1989. His 506 career tackles are the most in JMU football history. He’s a member of both the JMU and Virginia Sports Halls of Fame. He is now the first JMU athlete to ever be elected to a professional sports hall of fame.
In addition to being know for his 5 Super Bowl wins, Haley is also famous for some pretty outrageous reported antics. What is less well known is the fact that he faced a serious battle with mental illness, which he spoke about several years ago. Thankfully he appears to be winning the battle and has his life on track. He’s now reportedly doing great and has even gotten more involved with the JMU football program under Coach Withers. His election is an incredible and well deserved honor both for him, and for the entire JMU community.
I am honored that my son Dean Marlowe has won the Charles Haley Award two out of the four years he played at JMU. Great Honor, Congrats Mr Haley, you deserve it!!!
Lisa,
Your son is the greatest! We wish him all the best …
I am so proud of my friend, Charles Haley. You may not know this, but he has a daughter in nursing school at JMU, and is very involved with the alumni chapter here in Dallas, as is his whole family. He has also started a foundation here, tackletomorrow.com, to help kids that struggle with reading. Glad he finally was voted in, as it was well deserved!
@Carol that’s really great to hear. Thanks for sharing.
@Lisa thanks for reading and wish your son well at the combine. We’re all pulling for him.
Charles was a bad, bad man on the football field, but mostly a nice guy off of it. I’m just glad it was Gary Clark, not him, that tried to intimidate me (the ref) during an intramural basketball game. I was bigger, and probably more ornery, than Gary — it wouldn’t have mattered if I was bigger than Charles.
Congratulations and well-deserved — August will be a great time to wear purple in Canton!