Mercury Hayes Mercury Wayne Hayes ( born January 1 , 1973 ) is a former professional American football and Canadian football wide receiver , kickoff returner , and punt returner . He has played in the National Football League ( NFL ) for the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons , and he has played in the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) for the Montreal Alouettes . Prior to his professional football experience he was a University of Michigan Wolverines football star . He was drafted with the 136th overall pick in the 5th round of the 1996 National Football League draft . Although he had a modest professional career , he was involved in many of the University of Michigan ' s most memorable football moments . He is notable for his game - winning catch in the 1995 Pigskin Classic against the University of Virginia . Hayes also once held the Michigan record for consecutive games with a reception ( 30 ) . Hayes was a member of the 1992 Big Ten Champions who won the 1993 Rose Bowl . He had attended Booker T . Washington High School in Houston , Texas . College career . After attending Booker T . Washington High School in Houston , Mercury Hayes , son of Richard Hayes , was recruited by several college football programs . He selected the University of Michigan over several elite football programs , including the Colorado Buffaloes , Florida State Seminoles , Arkansas Razorbacks , and USC Trojans . During Hayes ' Michigan Wolverines career , the team ' s best finish was as 1992 Big Ten Conference Champions , when coached by Gary Moeller . During that year , the team finished ranked fifth nationally in both the Associated Press college football final poll and the CNN / USA Today college football final poll , and the team beat the Washington Huskies 38 – 31 in the January 1 , 1993 Rose Bowl in a game that is memorable for Tyrone Wheatley ' s MVP performance . Hayes had a 10 - yard reception during the game . Hayes ' 179 - yard performance against the Virginia Cavaliers was the 1995 single - game high by any of the Wolverines wide receivers , tight end s and running back s , which included Amani Toomer , Jay Riemersma , Chris Howard , Jerame Tuman , Tshimanga Biakabutuka , Tai Streets and Chris Floyd . The effort tied Jack Clancy ' s 1966 single - game total and Amani Toomer ' s 1994 single - game total for fourth on the Michigan all - time single game reception yards list . It is worth noting that Clancy is the Michigan all - time single - game yardage recordholder at 197 yards . Braylon Edwards and Tai Streets have since surpassed 179 yards , in 2004 and 1998 respectively , to move the trio down to sixth . Hayes ' 48 receptions and 923 yards also led all Wolverines in receiving for the 1995 season . At the end of his Michigan career , Hayes ' 923 yards ranked sixth on the single - season yardage list , but it is now fifteenth . His 2144 career yards ranked fifth and now ranks eleventh . The quarterback s during his 1995 season were Brian Griese and Scott Dreisbach . Other quarterbacks during his collegiate career were Todd Collins and Elvis Grbac . In 1995 , Hayes established the Michigan football record for most consecutive games with a reception by stringing together thirty such games . His record was broken by Marquise Walker ' s 32 games in 2001 and later surpassed by Braylon Edwards ' s 38 games and Jason Avant ' s 35 games . Hayes ranks tenth in career yards per reception at 17 . 3 and eleventh in career all - purpose yards . He is listed prominently among Michigan ' s all - time leaders in kickoff returns and yards as well as total returns ( kickoff , punt , fumble and interception ) and return yards . Amani Toomer and Hayes were the fourth pair of Michigan receivers to have played together with 2000 career reception yards . With 2 , 144 career yards and 124 receptions he ranks 10th and 12th on the All - time Michigan lists 2 yards behind Desmond Howard and 1 reception behind Derrick Alexander respectively . Notable games . Hayes , who wore # 9 for the Michigan Wolverines from 1992 to 1995 , was recruited by University of Colorado , Florida State University , University of Arkansas , and University of Southern California . The University of Colorado was so interested in having him in the 1992 incoming class with Koy Detmer and Rashaan Salaam that they reserved their 25th scholarship for him , hoping he would change his mind after having committed to Michigan . In the September 24 , 1994 Miracle at Michigan , # 7 - ranked Colorado , with former Michigan coaching staff member Bill McCartney as their coach , exacted their revenge on # 4 - ranked Michigan . Kordell Stewart completed a 64 - yard hail mary pass to Detroit native Michael Westbrook against Ty Law and Chuck Winters as time expired to complete a miracle 27 – 26 comeback . In the game , Hayes had 3 receptions for 62 yards as well as a run for 14 yards . He also returned 3 kickoff s for 54 yards . The ending of this game has been described as one of the two wildest finishes in University of Michigan Football history . Hayes is notable for his 7 - reception 179 - yard performance culminating in a game - winning , fourth down , time expired 15 - yard touchdown catch on August 26 , 1995 from Scott Dreisbach to seal an 18 – 17 win in Michigan ' s greatest comeback , a record that stood for eight years until 2003 , when the Wolverines pulled off a 21 - point comeback against Minnesota . The reception was recorded against University of Virginia Cavaliers defensive back s Ronde Barber and Paul London in the Pigskin Classic to complete what was at the time the largest comeback in Michigan Football history in Lloyd Carr ' s coaching debut . The game constituted the other of the two wildest finishes in Michigan Football history . Hayes is notable as one of the victims of Beaver Stadium attendees ' ice and snowball hurling on November 18 , 1995 . In the game , Hayes caught 6 receptions for 132 yards and had 3 kickoff returns for 48 yards . The game ended as a 27 – 17 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions . Hayes also had season highs in reception yards as a freshman and sophomore against his hometown Houston Cougars football team . As a sophomore , he totalled 127 yards on six receptions ; three punt return s for 38 yards ; and two kickoff return s for 54 yards in a 42 – 21 win on September 25 , 1993 . The game included Hayes ' longest punt return as a Wolverine ( 26 yards ) and represented Hayes career high in all - purpose yards . The game was also Hayes ' third highest receiving yards total and the highest total he would have until his senior season . The freshman game , Michigan ' s third of the season , marked Hayes ' debut as a kickoff returner . Professional career . The 1996 NFL draft was a quality draft for wide receiver s . Among the wide receivers drafted that year were first rounders Keyshawn Johnson , Terry Glenn , Eddie Kennison , Marvin Harrison and Eric Moulds . Additionally , Bobby Engram , Terrell Owens , Muhsin Muhammad , Joe Horn and former Michigan teammate Amani Toomer were also drafted that year . Hayes was the first of three 1996 fifth round picks by the Saints . He was drafted just after Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn , the 135th pick . Mercury Hayes ' NFL career longest reception of 50 yards , caught in week 14 of the 1996 National Football League season in a 26 – 10 loss to the St . Louis Rams , was the first NFL pass by Doug Nussmeier ( Nussmeier ' s second pass was his only touchdown completion ) . Although Hayes only compiled 4 receptions for 101 yards ; 2 rushes for 7 yards and 2 kickoff return s for 30 yards while appearing in 7 games , he earned nearly $ 39 , 000 in bonus money over the course of his rookie season . Hayes started the 1997 National Football League season on the New Orleans Saints ' roster and appeared in 4 games . Hayes signed with the Atlanta Falcons on October 27 , 1997 and appeared in two games for the Falcons . He was released by the Falcons in the pre - season of the following year . Hayes was picked up on September 18 , 1998 by the Washington Redskins and added to their practice squad , but was released 19 days later . In February 1999 , he was drafted by the Barcelona Dragons , but he was released from the team five weeks later . Mercury Hayes was signed by the Montreal Alouettes in June 1999 . They released him in July and re - signed him in August . His 2000 season began productively with an impressive pre - season effort ( including 67 and 77 - yard touchdown runs in the same quarter of one game ) followed by effective 65 - yard and 68 - yard regular season reception totals in early August . However , by the end of August , Hayes was on the sidelines nursing an injury . He failed to accumulate 259 yards receiving on the season , which would have placed him among the top 15 Canadian Football League receivers in yardage for the 2000 Canadian Football League season . In September , he was released from the team . In 2002 , he attempted comeback with the Norfolk Nighthawks of the af2 , and this was his last attempt at professional football .