K Ernesto Lacayo (5’8, 195, Hastings College) will be returning for his second season with the Rattlers, sixth season in the IFL and 11th total in professional football. Lacayo was named to the All-IFL Second Team in 2021 after leading the league with 101 PATs. Arizona also led the league with a 54.5% success rate on field goal attempts, as Lacayo converted six of 11.
Lacayo has played in the AFL, the CIF and spent 2020 in the XFL with the Seattle Dragons. While playing the 2019 IFL season with the San Diego Strike Force, Lacayo earned another All-IFL Second Team honor, converting ten field goals, with a long of 53 yards and also leading the league in PAT% (94). In his career, Lacayo has had NFL tryouts with the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears.
The Hayward, California native began his collegiate career at the College of San Mateo where he was twice a team captain before earning a scholarship to play at Hastings College in Nebraska. In 2009 and 2010, Lacayo was named All-Nebraska Kicker and Special Teams Player of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald. He holds multiple Hastings school kicking records, including field goals in a season (14), single-season and career PAT (39 and 64), and career kicking points scored (81).
LB Treyvon Williams (5’11, 225, Florida International University) will return to the Rattlers for his second season in Arizona and third season in the IFL. Williams played in seven games in 2021, starting five and recording 19 total tackles (13 solo).
During Williams’ rookie season in 2019, he earned Second Team All-IFL honors while leading the Barnstormers with 90 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and 11.5 TFLs. With Williams leading the defense, Iowa came within one game of the United Bowl and the Barnstormers defense was among the league leaders in takeaways, finishing tied for first in fumble recoveries (ten) and second to Arizona in interceptions (15).
Williams spent his entire collegiate career at FIU, where he started in all 12 games and recorded a team-high 109 tackles in 2016, his redshirt junior season. Williams also registered a career-high 15 tackles vs. Florida Atlantic, one of five 10+ tackling games he had that year. His 2016 season earned him an All-Conference USA Honorable Mention and he was also named to Phil Steele’s All C-USA Third Team.
DB Cory Butler-Byrd (5’9, 180, University of Utah) will also join Arizona for the second straight year. Butler-Byrd signed with the Rattlers in late July 2021 and helped breathe life into a defensive backfield that had been hampered by injuries. He played in the final three regular season games and one playoff game, making 11 total tackles (seven solo).
Cory began the 2021 season as a member of the Tucson Sugar Skulls. He played in four of Tucson’s first five games recording ten total tackles (eight solo), one interception, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a pass breakup. Two of his greatest assets are his speed and versatility, as he can also switch to receiver and special teams. In 2021, the DB returned 18 kicks for 309 yards between the Sugar Skulls and Rattlers.
In 2020, Butler played with the Inglewood Blackhawks of the Gridiron Development League. A native of Compton, California, Butler’s IFL rookie season came in 2019 when he appeared in two games with the San Diego Strike Force and was a teammate ofErnesto Lacayo. Having played collegiately at Utah, Butler spent two seasons and saw action in 21 games with the Utes, playing wide receiver, cornerback and kick returner.
DL Malik Haynes (6’0, 335, Southern Illinois University) will be joining the Rattlers for his rookie season in the IFL in 2022.
Collegiately, Haynes played all four years (2016-2019) with SIU and was an All-MVFC Honorable Mention his senior season. That season awarded Haynes a start in 12 games, 34 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks. Additionally, Haynes had a career-high seven tackles at Indiana State and went on to play in the Dream All-American Bowl, which showcases the best FCS, D-II and D-III players in college football.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Haynes graduated from Al Raby High School and was a First-Team All-Conference honoree by the Chicago Sun-Times in his senior season of 2015. In his high school career, Haynes was a three-time All-Conference and two-time All-City honoree, as well as a two-time team MVP.
