Daelin Hayes to receive the first Frazier Thompson Award during Notre Dame spring game
The Notre Dame campus is expected to be buzzing with around 300 former players this weekend for the annual Blue-Gold Game, including an Irish defensive lineman who will be recognized for his actions beyond the football field.
Daelin Hayes, who played for Notre Dame from 2016-20, will receive the first Frazier Thompson Award on Saturday, which highlights notable contributions to diversity and inclusion by members of the Notre Dame community.
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The defenseman will receive a $10,000 grant to award to an organization which promotes ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts.
“I have always strived to leave things in a better place than when I found them,” Hayes said, via a Notre Dame press release. “I take great pride in being a Notre Dame graduate and former student-athlete. The type of people who go to Notre Dame are the type of people you expect to change the world.”
Hayes certainly made a huge impact at Notre Dame. In 2020, he helped organize a Juneteenth rally on the Notre Dame campus and was subsequently named a team captain in the fall. He was a finalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award in 2020 and received the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, which goes to a college football player who has positively impacted the community in which they played.
On the football field, Hayes went on to become an All-ACC defensive lineman in 2020. He was a fifth-round selection by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2021 NFL Draft and has continued his community service work in the Baltimore area.
“The Monogram Club is extremely proud to launch the Frazier Thompson Award, and I cannot think of a better first recipient than Daelin Hayes,” said Don Casey, and Irish swimming alum and Monogram Club president. “Daelin is a tremendous example of what it means to utilize your platform in a positive and meaningful way.”
More on the Frazier Thompson Award
Thompson was a 1947 graduate of Notre Dame, track and field star and the first Black Monogram winner in school history. Originally from Philadelphia, Thompson participated in a V-12 Naval College Training Program at Notre Dame during World War II and subsequently enrolled at the university. The sprinter also joined the track team.
“Frazier Thompson was a pioneer at the University and his impressive legacy will live on through this award,” Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C, said. “Notre Dame’s commitment to diversity and inclusion goes to the heart of our mission, to who we are and to what we want to be, and it is most fitting that we recognize those doing outstanding work in this regard.
“This award not only illuminates Frazier’s exemplary contributions but also the ongoing efforts of those who work tirelessly to advance justice and equality in our society.”
Frazier went on to become an engineer, working for both the U.S. Postal Service and NASA. He died in 1991, and a scholarship was created in his honor in 1997.
