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Columbia University Athletics

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2024 Football Roster

3 Hayden McDonald

  • Position Defensive Back
  • Height 5-9
  • Class Senior
  • Weight 180
  • Hometown Seattle, Wash.
  • Previous School O'Dea
  • College Columbia College
  • Major Economics

Biography

2024: Walter Camp FCS All-American … Second Team AFCA All-American … FCS Footbal Central First Team All-American … Stats Perform Third Team All-American … Honorable mention All-American by Associated Press … FInalist for Buck Buchanan Award, given to top defensive player in FCS … Finalist for Bushnell Cup, given to Ivy League Player of the Year … Team’s Most Valuable Defensive Player Award winner … FCS ADA Academic All-Start … Started all 10 games … Led Ivy League with five interceptions and ranked No. 2 nationally in interceptions per game … Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on October 5 … Second on squad with 68 tackles … Had seven tackles and a pick in Columbia’s win over Cornell to seal the Ivy League title … Recorded 10 tackles in win at Brown … Registered an interception to go with seven tackles in win against Yale … Tallied nine tackles and a pick in Columbia’s first win at Penn since 1996 … Intercepted a pair of passes in win over Princeton … Racked up 10 tackles in win over No. 18 Lafayette.

2023: Saw action and started in nine games … Second on team with 62 tackles … Intercepted a pass and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown in season finale at Cornell … Posted eight tackles against Brown … Notched eight tackles in win over Marist … Set career-high with 14 tackles in season opener at Lafayette.

2022: Played in nine games as a defensive back … Totaled two tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss in the season opener at Marist … Registered a season high three tackles against Dartmouth (Oct. 22) … Had two tackles at Penn (Oct. 15) … Played in six Ivy League contests.
 
2021: Did not see any action as a first-year defensive back … Contributed on the scout team.
 
HIGH SCHOOL: A June 2021 graduate of O’Dea High School in Seattle, Wash., where he played three years of varsity football for Head Coach Monte Kohler … Two-time 3A All-Metro League selection as a cornerback as a junior and senior … Earned 3A All-Metro League honors as a wide receiver following junior season … Named team’s Most Improved Player and Defensive Most Valuable Player as a junior … Played both wide receiver and defensive back for the Fighting Irish … Served as team captain during his senior year … Guided the Fighting Irish to back-to-back 3A Metro Championships as a junior and senior … Played in five games of his spring 2021 season … Finished senior season with 20 tackles, four interceptions and two pass breakups … Intercepted two passes, returned one for a touchdown and made five tackles in game 5 of his senior season … Intercepted three passes, broke up seven passes, scored one touchdown, and made 43 tackles during junior season … Led the Fighting Irish to a 5-2 record and Metro title as a junior … In his first start on the varsity, intercepted two passes, broke up a pass and made five tackles … Rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and two-star recruit by 247sports … Played FSP 7 on 7 football for three years … Helped lead team to the Passing Down championship and IMG SoCal Tournament title … Registered 10 interceptions and 50 pass breakups … Named 7on7 team Defensive MVP as a freshman … Also competed in track and field … Competed in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and long jump … Personal bests include a 12.35 in the 100-meter dash, 24.83 in the 200-meter dash, and 17-8 in the long jump … Also ran on the 4x100-meter relay team … Earned the FSP 4.0 Award … Four-time First Honor student and three-time Second Honor student … Involved in a variety of volunteer and community service activities including tutoring, feeding the homeless, working at Cathedral Kitchen and Skyline Retirement Home … Totaled 120 hours of community service work.
 
PERSONAL: Father attended and played football at South Carolina from 1987-91...Enrolled at Columbia College.

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 30

    2021First Year

    Defensive Back
    5'9" 165 lbs
    30
  • 21

    2022Sophomore

    Defensive Back
    5'9" 185 lbs
    21
  • 3

    2023Junior

    Defensive Back
    5'9" 180 lbs
    3
  • 3

    2024Senior

    Defensive Back
    5'9" 180 lbs
    3