Column: USC’s Pat Haden, a battler, is there in force when called to the field

Reporting from PALO ALTO —  The old Trojans quarterback is gaunt, weary, struggling to battle an unknown illness that has wrapped him up like two giant linebackers.

Yet when USC needed Pat Haden to come to the field and throw one more Hail Mary pass Saturday afternoon, he was there.

Late in the third quarter of a monumental Trojans tussle with Stanford, with the scored tied, flags flying and Steve Sarkisian on the brink of a meltdown, the coach summoned the athletic director from the press box to settle things down.

Was it proper? Probably not. Did Haden care? Absolutely not.

“My guys are out there fighting for 60 minutes,” said Haden. “The least I can do is come down for a minute and fight with them.”

In the 14th-ranked Trojans’ dramatic and potentially defining 13-10 victory over the 13-ranked Cardinal, Haden’s fight mirrored their fight.

After receiving a text from one of the school’s compliance officials relaying Sarkisian’s request, Haden literally dropped his hot dog, raced down from the press box and jogged across the back of the end zone to the USC sidelines. Once there, he adjusted his white sweater, sidled up alongside his coach, squared to face the officials, and went to work.

He spoke loudly. He gestured grandly. He commanded everyone’s attention long enough to calm everything down.

“I’d never seen that before,” said Trojans running back Javorius Allen. “But you know that man is going to fight for his team.”

This is the same 61-year-old man who has recently been hospitalized twice with an undiagnosed illness that has left him exhausted and worried. One of these hospital stays caused him to miss the annual preseason Salute to Troy event, sending ripples of worry through campus.

“I’m not in good health, I’ve got some health issues I’m battling, that’s my biggest concern right now,” Haden admitted.

Yet on this day, he was just as concerned with his team. His coach had just been flagged with a delay of game penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Sarkisian wanted Haden to stop the feuding before another flag was thrown.

“I just really felt I needed him down there at that moment,” said Sarkisian. “I was glad to see him.”

Most observers felt differently, and expect Haden to be resoundingly criticized this week for several reasons.

It is considered a breach of protocol for athletic directors to interject themselves in the middle of sports events. Athletic directors usually stay in their suites hugging their boosters and counting their donations.

Members of the new College Football Playoff selection committee — Haden is one of 13 — also probably should never involve themselves in a football game. It detracts from the credibility of their impartiality. What if another committee member, Stanford professor Condoleezza Rice, had decided to run down and argue for her team? Soon after Saturday’s game, a published report even appeared calling for Haden’s immediate resignation from the committee.

As if all that wasn’t awkward enough, the Trojans quite possibly violated an NCAA rule that states there can be only voice communication — no text — from the bench area to the top of the stadium. Although there is no penalty for such a violation, it is considered extremely bad form.

There were many reasons the ailing Haden should not have been on that field. But for USC fans, surely, none were as compelling as the one belief that brought him there.

“He’s a Trojan, man,” said Sarkisian. “What else would you expect out of Pat?”

When the athletic director intervention ended, the Trojan remained. Haden stayed on the field in the fourth quarter to slap backs, cheer loudly, and even jump on backs of coaches after J.R. Tavai’s sack of Kevin Hogan led to game-clinching fumble recovery by Scott Felix.

Afterward, when Sarkisian was hugging and grabbing and shoving players into the loud winning locker room so nobody would celebrate alone, Haden joined them. Later, he explained his complicated afternoon in the simplest of terms.

“This is my job,” he said emphatically. “This is my job to represent USC and its coaching staff the best way I can.”

His job. His responsibility. His fight. You want to criticize him for that? Go ahead, he knows his every move Saturday was caught on national TV, he doesn’t care. You want to throw him off that playoff selection committee? Please do, he probably doesn’t need the hassle.

After spending four decisive, determined yet dignified years leading USC out of the nightmare of probation and into a new and energetic era featuring an exciting coach and a soon-to-be refurbished Coliseum, Haden has earned the right to run down and throw a few haymakers for his guys.

“I’ve never been asked to come down, I didn’t know what was going on, so I came down,” he said. “If I get a text and the coach wants you to come down, I come down.”

In an initial group interview with several reporters, the old quarterback briefly fell into the role of an athlete, refusing to confirm what everyone had seemingly saw.

“By the time I got there it had already been worked out, I was just an innocent bystander,’’ he said. “I wasn’t arguing with officials.”

But later, walking alone away from the locker room, he acknowledged he was just doing what he’s been doing since he replaced Mike Garrett and began cleaning things up.

“You know, it’s been a long four years, we’ve been through a lot, and we’re finally coming out of it,” he said.

It is beyond irony that having repaired all the damage elsewhere, Haden now has to focus on fixing himself.

“I’ll figure my health thing out, I’ll be fine, I’m not dying tonight, I promise,” he said with a grin late Saturday afternoon.

It is fair to speculate Haden could be entering the autumn of his USC tenure here. He’s completed his mission. He’s made the athletic program whole again. He has nothing left to prove. His legacy as an administrator now outshines even his history as a player.

Who knows how much longer he will chose to remain USC’s athletic director? But as Saturday magnificently proved, the old quarterback can still sling it.

bill.plaschke@latimes.com

Twitter: @billplaschke