ALPHA ATHLETES San Francisco's Sack Man Brother Charles Haley
Brother Charles Haley of the San Francisco 49ers is not yet counted among the league's mega-stars. But he went a long way toward remedying that situation during an October 24th contest with the Chicago Bears. During that game, nationally televised on ABC's Monday Night Football, defensive ace Haley was ubiquitous, omnipresent and otherwise all over the field. "Haley applied the pressure," "Haley was charging fast," "Charles Haley deserves credit for breaking up that play" — on and on went the media moguls assigned to translate the action for the television audience. When Haley doubled over in apparent pain, the commentators made it clear that this was one defensive player that the 49ers could not afford to lose in such a critical game. They went on to gleefully inform us that Number 94 wasn't hurt, just a bit exhausted from switching back-andforth from defensive end to linebacker — taking the lead to stop both the The Sphinx/Winter 1988
run and the pass. The Bears won that game by the score of 10-9 . . . and the name Charles Haley became a tad more familiar to millions of viewers across the nation. Skilled at applying pressure on the opposing quarterback, Brother Haley entered his third NFL season with a solid record of accomplishment behind him. During the last season, he established the versatility that makes him a team leader — playing both ends of the line and spending time as a linebacker. In his best game of the '87 season, also against Chicago, he had five tackles (including a sack). He was the team leader in sacks during both 1986, his rookie year, and 1987. In his rookie season, the 49ers fourth round draft pick posted 12 sacks and 109 yards in losses. This was the highest sack total for a San Francisco rookie since the NFL began keeping official sack statistics (1982). He led the NFL in the category and was second only to San Diego's Leslie O'Neal (12 1/2) among rookie sackers. Additionally, his 59 total tackles led all Niners down-linemen. Haley was selected to the UPI, Pro Football Writers, and Pro Football Weekly's allrookie teams. Born Charles Lewis Haley in Gladys, Virginia, this Alpha Athlete competed in football, basketball and track for William Campbell High School in Campbell County, Virginia. He went on to James Madison University, where he was a gridiron starter for four consecutive seasons. At JMU, where he played both inside and outside linebacker, Haley lead the team in total stops during each of final three years and finished his career with 506 total tackles, 17 career sacks, two forced fumbles and three interceptions. He never missed a game during his four-year career and posted three consecutive years with
Xi Delta initiate Charles Haley is destined for stardom.
130-or-more stops. An initiate of Xi Delta Chapter at James Madison, Brother Haley is married to the former Karen Smith. The couple resides in San Jose. While no one can predict the future, the horizon certainly looks toward the Pro Bowl for this 6'5", 240 lb. defensive demon. Remember the name, Brother Charles Haley!
HALEY'S COMIN' After leading the 49er's in sacks during his rookie season, Brother Haley was named to 3 All-Rookie squads. He again led the team in sacks during the '87 season and is now a seasoned defensive ace. Page 15