Redskins' Albert Haynesworth's mother knew best

By Jason Reid

HARTSVILLE, S.C.

Roused from sleep at 6 a.m. by his mother's voice, 6-year-old Albert Haynesworth III hurried to dress and begin his daily workout routine outside. For 30 minutes, Linda Haynesworth and her middle son would run around their house as part of her plan to help him overcome a problem. Her big, overly energetic first-grader was stirring trouble in class, prompting a meeting in which a teacher suggested Albert might benefit from medication to make him less excitable.

After consulting a doctor, Linda took a different approach, believing a little hard work early in the morning might effect a change. For about two months, Albert recalled recently, he and his mother exercised together. During a follow-up meeting with Linda, the teacher praised Albert's improvement, noting the medication must have worked.

"It wasn't any medication; I was tired," said Albert, who shook his head and laughed at the memory.

"My mom could have just said, 'Here, take these (pills),' but that would have been the easy way, and that's not how my mom is. She was trying to show me that sometimes, stuff isn't going to be easy, and some people are always going to think certain things about you no matter what. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as long as you're always willing to face your problems and work hard. When I think back about it, yeah, she was a tough parent, but she had to be tough. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here where I am today."

Where he is today is at the top of the NFL. In February, the Washington Redskins lured the two-time all-pro defensive tackle from the Tennessee Titans with the most lucrative deal in league history for a defensive player - a seven-year contract that could be worth $115 million based on performance. The package's

$41 million in guarantees set an NFL mark that was eclipsed last week when the Detroit Lions committed $41.7 million to quarterback Matthew Stafford, the top pick in this year's draft.

With counseling, Haynesworth, who turns 28 on June 17, rebuilt his career after struggling to overcome anger-management issues - including the longest suspension in league history for on-field behavior after he stomped the helmetless head of Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode in 2006 - that have detracted from his performance since he was a standout at the University of Tennessee.

Haynesworth was selected as an AFC starter in the past two Pro Bowls while emerging, many coaches and players said, as the league's most dominant defensive player. Uniquely agile and quick for a man of his size (the Redskins measured him at 6- 6, 340 pounds) and strength, Haynesworth regularly draws double teams, collapsing the pocket and creating opportunities for others.

"He's one of those rare kind of players who you have to be aware of on all plays," Titans offensive line coach Mike Munchak said. "If Albert decides he wants to go somewhere, you're not going to stop him from going there."

The Redskins plan to rely on Haynesworth to help transform a defense that finished last season ranked No. 4 overall, yet produced too few big plays. While he has embraced his role as the new face of the franchise, other matters have clouded his arrival in Washington.

Haynesworth was indicted in March on two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a December accident in Tennessee in which another driver was seriously injured. He pleaded not guilty and has declined to comment, on the advice of his attorney. The league is investigating the Titans' allegations that the Redskins had improper contact with Haynesworth before he became a free agent, which could result in the loss of draft picks if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell determines Washington violated tampering rules.

And despite his success at controlling the rage with which he plays since the ugly 2006 incident, some people, Haynesworth believes, will always view him negatively. Haynesworth is eager to start a new chapter, and that chapter in Washington began with the team's three-day minicamp that ended Sunday. The stakes are high and he expects to win after watching his mother overcome bigger obstacles as a single parent.

"For anybody thinking, 'Well, now that he's got all this money, he's just going to go out there and relax,' I'm telling you, that's not going to happen," Haynesworth said.

"This is my name that's on the line. Everyone is going to be looking at me, and I don't want to lose at anything I do. I look at my mom. She was both parents, she worked all the time, and then she had to come home and take care of these three boys all on her own. I look at where I am now, and everything that's happened, and the tough love she gave me... I'm ready for this."

Linda Haynesworth, 55, raised her boys, Tyriom Edwards, 35, Haynesworth and Lance McCoy, 21, in tiny Hartsville (population 7,556, as of the 2000 census) without much help from their fathers, working long hours as a seamstress in a clothing factory, a machinist and, more recently, as a truck driver.

"She made us like a middle-class family all on her own," Haynesworth said. "She did it all by herself, with no help from any of our dads, really. I guess that was her flaw: picking sorry men."

Linda Haynesworth, who divorced Albert's father, Albert II, in 1985, purchased land in Hartsville and had a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house built.

"We had nice cars, nice clothes. When I was like maybe 10 or 11, I had a $100 pair of (Air) Jordans. Back then, that was something," Haynesworth said. "And my mom invested well. I remember she said to me one day, 'My stock just split.' I was like, 'What does that mean?' But I did know my mom took really good care of us."

Linda Haynesworth is uncomfortable sitting still, her family members said. Albert gave her the option to retire when the Titans selected him with the 15th overall pick in the 2002 draft, but she said: "I'm an independent person. I like to know where my bread is coming from."

Albert persuaded Linda to switch careers, becoming his de facto personal assistant. The plan is for Linda to join Albert in Washington.

"I always hoped my boys would pick up my work ethic," Linda said a few weeks ago as she sat back in her chair after eating Sunday dinner, a Southern spread that included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and peach cobbler.

"If you work for your own, if you channel your energy into something positive, you don't have to depend on other people. The time will come when you're going to have problems, but I never wanted them to have the excuse that, 'We didn't have this and we didn't have that.' I made sure they were never without, so there were no excuses. It would have been nice to have someone to help me, a partner, because I could have spent more time with them, but that wasn't meant to be."

Haynesworth's father still resides in the Hartsville area. Although he and Albert have maintained contact, they are not close. The fact that he wasn't around bothered Albert.

"Sometimes I thought about, 'Why isn't he here?' When I would see my mom working so hard, like when she was working 18, 19 hours straight sometimes, I would think about it," he said. "I don't hate him, but I don't love what he did for me and what he showed me. I'm not going to say that. It is what it is. People chose their path in life.... I have three kids (two with his wife and one from a previous relationship), and I know how important it is for me to be there for them."

To overcome the absence of Albert's father, Linda made sure he had strong male role models, she said. Albert sometimes spent weekends at the home of his uncle, Evans Gilliard, his father's brother-in-law, and has remained close with Gilliard's children, Evans III and Trena Addison. Gerald Malloy, a South Carolina state senator, has been a mentor to Haynesworth for more than 20 years.

"But it was his mother, of course, who was always the driving force," Malloy said. Concerned about Albert's weight as a child, Linda, who has been athletic her whole life, enrolled him in sports. He took to football quickly and became one of the nation's top prospects as a junior at Hartsville High.

Haynesworth helped the team reach the state 4A championship game as a junior (he had a disappointing senior season) and Linda's home was deluged with college scholarship offers. Although Albert went on recruiting trips, he quickly chose Tennessee. It helped that then-Volunteers coach Phillip Fullmer forged a quick bond with Linda.

By his junior year, Haynesworth was among the best defensive tackles in the Southeastern Conference, but his temper occasionally caused problems. During his sophomore season with the Volunteers, Haynesworth fought with a teammate, left practice and returned with a long pole, seeking tackle Will Ofenheusle. Fullmer stopped Haynesworth.

Seated at a table in a downtown Knoxville, Tenn., restaurant recently, Fullmer sought to clarify what happened.

"First of all, it wasn't some big pipe, which is how the story has changed" through the years, Fullmer said. "It was a stretching pole you use in workouts. Now, I'm not saying that was a good decision by Albert. It wasn't. But it wasn't like the whole thing was written. Look at me. If Albert had really wanted to go on the field, I wouldn't have been able to stop him.

"Did Albert have some maturity issues? Sure, he did. But he had the same maturity issues we would see in a lot of young men in the program in that age range. I've been in this game a long time, and I know the difference between a thug and a good person, and Albert is a good person."

Though he is better at controlling his emotions during games, Haynesworth continues to play with ferocity, even after serving his suspension. In February, Titans defensive line coach Jim Washburn said of Haynesworth: "He is an angry football player. He plays the game mean. On game day, you'd better not try to talk to him."

Washburn, who lists Haynesworth as the smartest player he's coached, said, "Those coaches (in Washington) will figure that out real quick. He's not a player who you're gonna coach on the sidelines or have a real discussion with. About three hours before the game, he's a different person. There's no point in trying to communicate too much with him during a game."

Haynesworth said he has no plans to change and hopes Redskins fans do not judge him based on his past.

"Sometimes I think about it," Haynesworth said. "You know that some people are going to look at you just as the player that kicked somebody in the head, but it's impossible to change some people's opinions. I know who I am, and I know where I came from, and that's what's important."