By Harry Minium
Monarch Nation, Taylor Heinicke knows that you were with him. He couldn't hear you screaming at your TV Saturday night while he went head to head with the immortal Tom Brady and nearly led the Washington Football Team to an upset NFL playoff victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He didn't see the thousands of Tweets, Facebook messages and other social media posts from ODU supporters because he's taken a break from the rough-and-tumble online world.
But he knows you were rooting for him. He's received texts, emails and phone calls by the dozen. His family told him of the great support he received from ODU followers on social media.
And the greatest football player in Old Dominion University history said he's grateful not only for the recent support, but for the unconditional love he's felt from ODU fans through good times and bad.
And through much of his six years in and out of pro football, the quarterback who holds 32 ODU records has had some bad times.
Heinicke hit a big bump in the road just before his second year in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings of his own making. Just before summer camp began, he severed a tendon in his left foot while trying to kick in a door of a friend's home in Atlanta.
There's a lot more to the story than that, but instantly, the media wrote him off, and did so by mocking him. Sports media types can be so unthinkingly cruel.
Many NFL fans also turned against him, some judging him to be irresponsible.
We know better. Heinicke is hard-working, selfless and caring and not only talented but disciplined. One mistake does not define your character, and during that critical time, Heinicke said ODU fans let him know they still believed in him.
"ODU fans were with me from the start and they believed in me when no one else did," Taylor said Wednesday afternoon. "They stuck with me.
"ODU was the first school to take a chance on me. When I came up there, I worked my ass off and they accepted me and cheered for me throughout it all, from FCS to FBS, when things were good and bad.
"I've done some things to embarrass myself, but they still believed in me. I will never forget that."
Things were especially dark for Heinicke this fall. By early December, he had not played a game or been on an NFL roster in nearly two years and didn't see much hope. In his last previous game, for the Carolina Panthers in 2018, he threw three interceptions and was injured.
His only pro experience since was riding the bench for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL.
He worked out every day during the fall in the hope that an NFL team would call, working on his speed with his personal trainer and often throwing the ball to high school kids in his native Atlanta. As COVID-19 began to thin the number of available quarterbacks, still, no one called, and he began to lose heart.
"When week after week went by and no one called, reality began to kick in," he said. "There were a couple of times when I woke up and said 'I don't feel like working out today.' "
But never one to quit, he continued working out, until Dec. 9, when Washington called and offered him a tryout.
He looked good a few weeks ago in a fourth-quarter appearance, ironically, against the Panthers. With starter Alex Smith injured, Heinicke finally got the chance of a lifetime against Brady, who has six Super Bowl rings, and a pretty good Bucs' defense.
When he played at ODU, Heinicke was smart, elusive, hard to tackle and read defenses so quickly that if there was an open receiver, he found him. His passing arm was also deadly accurate. In his few appearances before last Saturday, he didn't look quite the same.
NFL fans finally saw the Taylor Heinicke we all knew. Heinicke took charge of the offense, played with confidence and best of all, threw and ran well. He completed 26 of 44 passes for 306 yards and ran six more times for 46 yards and a TD.
Teammates, announcers and journalists like all said the same thing: I didn't realize he was that fast or that he could throw that well.
Tampa Bay won, 31-23, but it was a game Washington could have won.
Of all the offensive players who played in last weekend's wild card games, Heinicke graded second overall and was the highest-rated quarterback.
Heinicke injured his left shoulder while diving for a touchdown in the second half, yet returned to play.
"No way I was coming out," he said. "I was thinking, 'this is my chance, this is the chance I've waited my entire life for.'
"It hurt like hell, but so what?"
When asked what he liked about Heinicke, cornerback Kendall Fuller said: "His grit, his willingness to fight, willingness to compete. It motivated the whole team."
For a time Saturday night, "Taylor Heinicke" was the top trending topic on Twitter. Teammates, TV announcers and sports journalists all over the country sung his praises.
The game was witnessed by 22 million people live on NBC and millions more saw highlights of the former ODU star. It was ODU's biggest day in the national sports limelight since the Monarchs' upset of No. 13 Virginia Tech in 2018.
Like he said, it was a dream come true for Heinicke and his legions of ODU fans.
Heinicke said he heard from several coaches whom he played for at ODU, including Bobby Wilder and former quarterbacks for Ron Whitcomb, and he appreciated that.
But he said that ODU head coach Ricky Rahne and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, for whom he did not play, also reached out to him.
"I've only met those guys a couple of times," he said. "I barely know them, so I was a little surprised to hear from them. To have their support is pretty cool."
When I asked him what message he wanted to send to ODU fans and to the coaches, he said that his alma mater has underachieved in football and that he will do whatever he can to help the Monarchs reach their full potential.
"This is not a shot at anybody," he said. "But it's never fun watching your alma mater have a season like they did two years ago."
The Monarchs were 1-11 in 2019, their third losing season in a row. ODU canceled football this fall because of the pandemic.
"You want your team, your alma mater, to win," he said. "I will always come back to ODU and see those guys compete whenever I can. And I'll do whatever they think is necessary to help.
"I want to see ODU on the map. I want them to be in the Top 25. I want them to become the next Cincinnati, the next school that is in the discussion for a major bowl game. I'll do anything I can to help."
Heinicke is still in the Washington area receiving treatment for his shoulder and will return to Atlanta next week. His status for next season is unknown, although it appears likely Washington will sign him before his contract runs out next month.
It's unlikely he will return to ODU in the next few months because of the pandemic.
"I'll be there once things calm down," he said.
Heinicke was taking four online classes at ODU when Washington called: applied numerical methods, mathematics and nature, partial differential equations and number theory.
He passed two courses but has makeup exams on two more. He has two more classes to take after that and although he could take them during the summer, he wants to take them this spring for a selfish reason – he wants President John R. Broderick to hand him his diploma.
He became close with President Broderick shortly after arriving on campus ten years ago and they have continued their relationship through the years. President Broderick spoke with Heinicke twice after Saturday's game.
An aside here: President Broderick said that Gov. Ralph Northam asked for Heinicke's address so that he could send him a card. Northam represented Norfolk in the State Senate before being elected governor and often attended ODU home games.
It's nice to have the governor as a part of Monarch Nation.
President Broderick is retiring this summer and the May graduation likely will be the last in which he hands out degrees.
"It's been ten years since I enrolled at ODU, so I guess it's about time I graduated," Heinicke said.
"It would mean a lot to me to have President Broderick hand me my diploma. I think it would mean a lot to both of us."
Heinicke lost his father, Brett Heinicke, under tragic circumstances in 2011. He died of a heart attack just after Heinicke's freshman season.
Heinicke has grieved ever since and moreso than just any son who lost a father. They were especially close. They were so close that ODU coaches worried when they were recruiting Heinicke whether he would be OK ten hours away from his dad.
I recall Heinicke's first game in 2012, less than a year after his father died, when Heinicke was so emotionally shaken that coaches wondered if he could play. ODU called an early timeout to give him time to process what he was going through.
When he won the Walton Payton Award, given to the nation's best FCS player, in late 2012, he teared up as he paid credit to his father. When he was a senior, and I interviewed him about his father, he teared up again. He paid tribute to his father with a tattoo on his left arm and after every touchdown, he points to the sky, toward Brett.
Time doesn't necessarily heal all wounds, because sometimes losing someone can hurt just as much as years down the road. But in Heinicke's case, time has made it easier to deal with.
"I still miss him every day," he said. "It still hurts. But it's easier to deal with.
"The coolest part (of Saturday's game) was that I felt him there with me. I know he was helping me throughout the night."
The stands were empty – not even family members were allowed into the stadium – but Heinicke said his father was somewhere in FedEx Field.
"In spirit, he was in the stands, standing, slugging down a beer with a big smile while he watched me play," Heinicke said.
"This game was a dream come true. My Dad was a big part of my football career. It was my duty to finish it on a good note.
"I didn't like the way football was ending for me. Three picks and being injured in Carolina. Not playing in St. Louis. I did not want to go out that way.
"Speaking hypothetically, if that was my last game, I can sleep at night knowing I came full circle."
It won't be his last game, of course. I know of no player who has worked harder or waited longer for a chance to prove himself than Taylor Heinicke.
Next fall, he'll be on an NFL sideline somewhere. And, as he said, Brett will be with him.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Taylor Heinicke Says he is Grateful for the Loyal Support he Received From ODU Football Fans
