Spring 2005
Dynamic Duo
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An excellent all-around athlete, Havner (pronounced Hayv-ner) earned first-team All-America honors from cbssportsline.com and collegefootballnews.com in 2004 and was one of 12 semifinalists for both the Butkus Award (presented annually to the best linebacker in college football) and the Rotary Lombardi Award (given annually to collegiate football’s top interior lineman). He was the defensive winner of UCLA’s Henry R. “Red” Sanders Award for Most Valuable Player last year and led the Pac-10 in tackles with an average of 11.37 per game (125 total). Career-wise, Havner has made 303 tackles and will enter the 2005 season ranked No. 11 on the all-time UCLA list.

Havner’s strengths are many, according to Kerr. “He’s got great vision and is a tremendous open-field player,” the coach says. “He’s a very strong pass defender and has got a nose for the football. He really flies around and finds the football in the run game.”

Kerr’s also expecting great things from London, who was on the preseason “Watch List” for the Butkus and Lombardi awards before his injury. An All-Pac-10 honorable mention selection, he was the defensive winner of UCLA’s N.N. Sugarman Award for Best Leadership. “We expect him to go back to the form that he had as a sophomore, when he was a dynamic leader,” Kerr says. “Justin’s more of a vocal guy than Spencer, more of the fiery guy out there on the field. He plays our middle linebacker position and, really, his leadership in terms of just keeping the intensity on the field is one of his strengths. We need him to come back and be in the very best shape he can be in physically so he can do the things that will lead us.”

Sitting down together in an interview room, the two athletes are a study in opposites. London (6-foot-1, 235 pounds) is outgoing, talkative and laughs easily; Havner (6-foot-4, 236 pounds) is soft-spoken, thoughtful and more introspective. Nevertheless, they are friends and share a love of football.

“I remember when we were both freshmen, and neither of us had played yet,” Havner says. “Justin was a big-time recruit, and I was wondering, ‘What is this guy all about?’ ”

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