Background and career
Albert George Haynesworth III (born June 17, 1981) is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers football and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft. Haynesworth was a member of the Titans for seven seasons, where he was regarded as one of the league's top defensive tackles between 2007 and 2008 and earned two consecutive Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections. A highly coveted free agent after his 2008 campaign, Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins, but only played 20 games in two seasons until he was traded in 2011. As a result, the Redskins' acquisition of Haynesworth is considered among the worst free agent signings in NFL history. He played his final season in 2011 with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Haynesworth was born in Hartsville, South Carolina. He attended Hartsville High School, and participated in football and track, throwing the shot put. Haynesworth accounted for 150 tackles, 56 tackles for loss, six sacks, and six fumble recoveries as a junior; he followed that by tallying 110 tackles, 51 quarterback pressures, and six sacks as a senior in 1998. Following his senior season, Haynesworth was named a SuperPrep and Rivalnet All-American, and was also rated the fourth-best defensive lineman and the 14th-ranked overall player in the nation according to ESPN's Top 100, while National Recruiting Advisor rated him as the best defensive tackle in the country. He was a member of the University of Tennessee Volunteers' 1999 recruiting class.
As a student-athlete at the University of Tennessee, Haynesworth was a three-year letterman for the Tennessee Volunteers football team under head coach Phillip Fulmer. He lined up at the right defensive tackle position next to John Henderson. He compiled 66 tackles, five sacks, 31 quarterback pressures, 20 tackles for a loss, and nine pass deflections during his collegiate career. He earned Sporting News Freshman All-American honors in 1999 and was named Second-team All-Southeastern Conference after his junior season.
Considered "potentially a brutal run-stopper" by The New York Times, Haynesworth was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the first round with the 15th overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft. He was the fourth defensive tackle selected from a draft class considered to be loaded with talented defensive linemen. At Tennessee's Pro Day in 2002, when he was 20 years old, Haynesworth measured at 6-feet-6 and 317 pounds, ran a 4.82 40-yard dash, and had a 39-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot, 7-inch broad jump. He did not work out at the 2002 NFL Combine.
Haynesworth made his NFL debut in the Titans' 2002 regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles and had two tackles. He made his first NFL start in Week 15 against the New England Patriots. He finished his rookie season with 16 appearances and three starts. He had one sack, 30 total tackles, and three passes defended. He started in the Titans' two postseason games that year.
An incident foreshadowing future incidents with Haynesworth occurred at a Titans training camp in 2003, where Haynesworth kicked his former teammate, center Justin Hartwig, in the chest, then had to be restrained by other teammates. In the 2003 season, Haynesworth had 2.5 sacks, 32 total tackles, four passes defended, and two fumble recoveries in 12 games and 11 starts in the regular season. He started the Titans' two playoff games and recorded one sack and five total tackles.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
