By Harry Minium
The National Football League regular season ended Sunday night when the Washington Football team downed the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-14. And while the game itself wasn't particularly entertaining, it was nonetheless a very proud night for Old Dominion football.
For the first time ever, three ODU alumni were on the same NFL field. In all, eight former Monarchs are on NFL rosters, either as active players, on injured reserve or the practice squad. Three players will be in the playoffs this weekend and another could play the weekend of Jan. 16-17.
That's not bad for a school that began playing football 2009 and has played just six FBS seasons.
First-year ODU head coach Ricky Rahne said even though all seven played for Bobby Wilder, their success helps the Monarch program.
"The success of ODU players in the NFL this season has been great for our program," Rahne said. "It helps recruiting because players can tangibly see that their dreams of playing at the next level are attainable at Old Dominion.
"It also helps our current team. These guys have worked incredibly hard. They sacrificed in order to achieve at the highest level. It is one thing for me to use examples of players I know that they've never met, but it is entirely more effective to be able to show our team examples of guys that they've met and know well."
All eight come from different backgrounds. Some grew up in the suburbs and others in the inner city. Many are very talented while others have made the most of more modest skills. Some are outgoing while with others, you could barely squeeze a word out of them in interviews.
But one thing unites them – perseverance. All seven have shown a ton of heart and determination
Let's start with the two alums in Philly, wide receiver Travis Fulgham and long snapper Rick Lovato.
Lovato was a four-year starter at ODU who played in relative anonymity because he never had an errant snap. He was signed by the Chicago Bears in 2015 but then released before the season began. A year later, he was picked up, and then released, by the Green Bay Packers and then-Washington Redskins.
Zach Pascal
In the fall of 2016 he was washing dishes, making subs and cleaning floors at Joyce's Subs and Pizza in Lincroft, N.J., a place owned by his parents. In his spare time, he snapped a ball hundreds of times, ran and lifted weights every day.
"I have to be ready in case I get a call," he said at the time while admitting that the call might not ever come.
The call came in December when the Eagles needed a snapper ASAP. He performed so well that the Eagles kept him, and Lovato is the only former Monarch with a Super Bowl ring.
Drafted by the Detroit Lions out of ODU, Fulgham didn't stick in the Motor City. He really didn't get a chance to show what he could do. He played in three games in 2019 and did not catch a pass. Fulgham was cut by the Lions in training camp this year, picked up by the Packers, cut by the Packers and picked up by the Eagles, who put him on their practice squad.
He burst into the national spotlight on Oct. 4 when he caught a game-winning touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers. A week later, he caught ten passes for 152 yards and a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He hasn't had a similar game since but had 38 receptions for 539 yards in 13 games.
Rashaad Coward
Fulgham earned his way into the NFL with hard work and dedication. He grew up overseas and didn't play football until his junior year of high school and was recruited to ODU as a walk-on.
He quickly earned a scholarship and even in practice, you could see why. He was loaded with talent but lacked football skills and an awareness of the game.
I watched him hone his skills running thousands of pass routes before and after practice. He first garnered national attention when he caught nine passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in an historic 49-35 victory over Virginia Tech as a senior.
Let's head to the other sideline, where former ODU quarterback Taylor Heinicke was the backup for Washington. While many Washington fans clamored for Heinicke to start instead of injured vet Alex Smith, he did not play in Philadelphia.
Coach Ron Rivera said Heinicke and Smith may alternate on Saturday when Washington hosts Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a playoff game. I hope so, because few people in professional football have shown more perseverance than Heinicke.
He was the leading passer in Georgia high school history but wasn't recruited by Power 5 schools because he was a tad under 6-foot-1. Nonetheless, he became the most decorated player in ODU history, passing for 14,959 yards and 132 touchdowns and holds 32 school records.
Undrafted his senior year, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, who released him after two seasons. He was then signed and released by New England, Houston and Carolina in succession before signing with the XFL's St. Louis Battlehawks, for whom he did not throw a pass.
Discouraged? Yes. But when I reached out to him last year, he was still working out two or three hours every day in case the call came.
"I want to be ready," he said, echoing Lovato, with whom he roomed at ODU.
Tim Ward
He was taking classes online to complete his ODU degree when the call came last month. He put some of those courses on hold and reported to Washington.
When he arrived, Heinicke was 27 years old, had last been on an NFL roster on Aug. 30, 2019, and had not played in a game in two years.
Yet he was more than ready. In his first game, he came off the bench to complete 12 of 19 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 20-13 defeat to Carolina.
Indianapolis Colts' wide receiver Zach Pascal has arguably had the best NFL career of any former Monarch. In the last three seasons he's caught 112 passes for 1,504 yards in 48 games and is praised almost as much as a blocker and special teams player as he is a receiver.
Pascal has become a fan favorite in Indy because of his outgoing and humble personality. He's just a good guy and it shows. In the pre-Covid days, he would spend some of his pre-game warmup playing catch with kids in the stands.
How can you not love someone who plays catch with kids?
Pascal signed with Washington out of ODU, but was released and picked up by the Tennessee Titans. He stayed for a year in Nashville on the Titans' practice squad before being cut. The Colts quickly picked him up and have never looked back.
Again, he's one of those players who didn't come to ODU with NFL skills but outworked so many others to become a solid pro football player.
"We love Zach," Colts coach Frank Reich told SI.com after that game. "He epitomizes what we're all about: the toughness, the dependability, great teammate."
Oshane Ximines
In Chicago, Rashaad Coward made five starts on the offensive line and also played on special teams for the Bears, appearing in all 16 games. His NFL career is remarkable because the Bears moved him from the defensive line to the offensive line. He hadn't played a down on the O line since he was in high school in Brooklyn.
That was a Herculean change for any football player, and he's gotten better in each of his four seasons.
Defensive end Tim Ward started last weekend for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Los Angeles Rams. The Chiefs sat most of their starters because they had already sewn up top seed in the AFC. The Rams, however, used most of their starters and Ward was impressive, garnering five tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss in his first NFL game.
What's most impressive about that performance is that it was his first game in more than two seasons. Ward blew out his knee against North Texas in 2018, with two games left on ODU's schedule.
At the time, given his injury, his NFL chances looked bleak. Ward only started part-time at ODU. The Monarchs were stacked with defensive ends, including Oshane Ximines, Daniel Appouh and Bunmi Rotimi.
Yet the Chiefs liked Ward's size (6-6, 235), his work ethic and his heart. Credit KC for taking a chance and developing a player who others passed on.
Ximines was taken in the third round of the NFL draft by the New York Giants in 2018, becoming the first ODU player ever to be drafted. Ximines came to ODU with a good football frame but did not impress right away as a pro prospect. He lived in ODU's weight room and working with assistant coach Jeff Commissiong, developed into one of the nation's best pass rushers as a senior.
Ximines had a good rookie season in 2019. He played in 16 games and started twice and had 24 tackles and 4.5 sacks, but his perseverance will be tested again this offseason. He was injured in New York's fourth game this season and had season-ending shoulder surgery.
Jeremy Cox
The final ODU player in the NFL is former tailback Jeremy Cox, a standout for the Monarchs who rushed for 2,175 yards, the second-most in school history. He was a bruising runner, as he showed when he burst for a 40-yard TD in the final minutes of that 2018 victory over the Hokies. Yet he was often hobbled with injuries and rushed for just 435 yards in nine games as a senior.
He was cut by the Los Angeles Chargers prior to the 2019 season and did not play. Like his former teammates, he worked hard while waiting for a call, and it came from the Denver Broncos last February. He finished this season on the taxi squad and played in seven games, including one start.
The Broncos converted the muscular, 6-4, 230-pound Cox into a fullback, and it's one of the most thankless, bruising positions to play. Usually, you're a blocker, a battering ram who clears the way for a big-name tailback. Guys like Bronko Nagurski, Rocky Bleier and Larry Csonka made a name for themselves with their physical play.
So, hopefully, will Cox.
Ward may play for the Chiefs when they host an AFC game next weekend.
Meantime, you have the chance to watch three ODU alums play this weekend – Pascal when the Colts open at Buffalo in the AFC Wildcard round on Saturday at 1 (CBS-TV); Heinicke, when Washington hosts Tampa Bay Saturday at 8:15 (NBC) Coward when the Bears play at New Orleans on Sunday at 4:40 p.m. (CBS, Nickelodeon/Amazon Prime).
I'll be watching. And so will Rahne.
"Obviously I've never coached any of these guys, but our coaching staff has started to build some great relationships with them," he said. "I want the ODU football alumni to not only feel welcome, but know that this is, and always will be, their home with a foundation that they built."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: From Taylor Heinicke to Zach Pascal, ODU's Eight NFL Players Made it With Grit and Determination
