One thing about Bucs rookie defensive back Josh Hayes is that he isn’t afraid of contact. How could you be when you’re used to lowering your shoulder into an oak tree instead of another human being?

“I grew up running into trees – for real. My dad had me out in the yard, just running into trees,” Hayes said Saturday ahead of the Bucs’ second rookie mini camp practice. “You know, not being afraid of making contact with stuff. Understanding how that would feel. And I’ve been that way since I was 8, 9 years old when I started playing football. Just being able to make contact and not being afraid of that feeling you get when you do make that, I think I’ve kind of had that since I was a little kid.

“We play an aggressive game, we play football. Being able to actually be aggressive, not afraid of contact and stuff like that, it’s part of the game.”

You read that correctly, by the way. Just in case you’re unclear on what Hayes means by “running into trees,” he clarified further.

“Hitting trees with my shoulder,” he said. “[I was] probably 10 years old when I really told [my dad] football is what I want to do. He was like ‘All right, this is a part of it. Contact is a part of it.’ We had a nice little oak tree in the back and we just kind of set up five, ten yards away and just ran into it. The first few times, it sucked, but I got used to it after a while.”

So, if you like defensive backs who can tackle and not shy away from contact, it sure sounds like Josh Hayes is your guy. The Bucs rookie will look to take that hard-hitting nature into his first NFL season, trying to carve out a role in the Tampa Bay secondary. The sixth-round pick will get a look at the nickel cornerback position, but he can play safety and outside cornerback as the team needs him to.

“I wouldn’t say ‘a master of all trades,’ but a jack of all trades for sure,” Hayes said. “I feel like I could definitely play inside, play outside, go back deep and have an understanding of what’s going on – and be able to pick things up and be comfortable in those positions as well.”

Josh Hayes Brings The Right Mentality To Opportunity With The Bucs

Kansas State DB Josh Hayes Photo By: USA Today

Josh Hayes has been through a lot in his college career, which began at North Dakota State and ended this past season at Kansas State. And throughout his time at the collegiate level, he was unflappable in every situation. He never got too high or too low, something that Kansas State cornerbacks coach Van Malone said was a big advantage for the Wildcats.

“I would, as a coach, always remark about the fact that he was very competitive,” Malone said.” You know, players throughout the season, have days where they struggle. They have games where they might struggle. They have plays where they get deep. And the thing I was always impressed with about Josh is that he never let a bad play curtail the rest of the game. He never – we call it going into a tank – he never went into a tank as a player, and that was always good because of the fact that we needed his leadership.

“The position he played, there was a tremendous amount of pressure on him. And so there would be times where  he’d get beat? And when you’re in that position and you get beat, the last thing that we could do is have him go into the tank because as many young players as we had on our team, that could take those guys the same way in terms of struggling the rest of a game. So that was a big deal for us.”

As Malone puts it, Hayes never went into a tank. Ted Lasso might call it “being a goldfish,” because of the theory about goldfish having 10-second memories. Whatever the correct way is to describe it, it’s clear the Bucs’ new defensive back approaches the game the right way and knows how to handle adversity when it strikes.

“I like to think of it as just one play at a time,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of talented people that play this sport. Just like you’ll make a play, they’ll make a play too sometimes. You’ve got to be able to flush that and just focus on the next play ahead.”

Josh Hayes may have been an off-the-radar selection by the Bucs in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but it’s clear he’s ready to take advantage of whatever opportunity he has to make an impact for Tampa Bay. His aggressive style of play and “goldfish” mentality certainly won’t hurt.