Where are they now? Mike Hass
March 31, 2016
— Mike Hass: Football wide receiver, 2001-2005.
At OSU: Hass came to OSU from Jesuit High School in Portland as a walk-on. By his senior year, he was the nation’s top receiver. He won the Biletnikoff Award in 2005 as the NCAA’s best wideout, totaling 1,534 yards; every other player in the country was at least 260 yards behind even while Hass and OSU played just 11 games that year, two fewer than most bowl eligible programs. Hass’ 3,924 career receiving yards are still the most in OSU history.
Now: Hass finished his football career in 2010 after playing for three years in the NFL and one season in the now-defunct United Football League. He never recorded a catch in his career with the NFL’s Saints, Bears or Seahawks.
“When you’re in the league, it’s tough. You don’t really have expectations, you have hopes,” he said. “And I probably didn’t fulfill those as much as I wanted to, but that’s life. You move on.”
Hass was intentional about networking in his time in the NFL, which helped set him up with a job at Nike after he finished playing. Before he was hired, though, he spent a gap year to relax in a way he usually couldn’t during football season.
“A lot of fishing,” Hass said with a laugh. “Plotting my next step, house searching, just trying to get settled down.”
Hass started with Nike in 2011, combining his Civil Engineering degree from OSU with his love for sports by developing football gloves for college and NFL players. He started a new job this month with Nike, switching from gloves to football cleats. He’ll be in a similar role in the development stages, but just on a different type of gear.
Hass, 33, lives in Sherwood and is engaged to be married in June. He and his fiancé, Rebecca, met at Nike. With her, Nike, fishing and more, Hass is settled into his latest stage of life.
“I’m just hanging out with the fiancé and enjoying life outside of work, football and everything else,” he said.