NORFOLK, Va. – Taylor Heinicke, the former All-American quarterback who put Old Dominion football on the national map, has become the first ODU NFL player to make a naming rights donation to the football program.
Heinicke donated $250,000 to the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, and the money was used to help pay for a $3.5 million football locker room overhaul that opened earlier this year. The locker room has been named in his honor.
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Heinicke, who starts for his hometown Atlanta Falcons, attended ODU's 20-17 victory at Georgia Southern last weekend. Interviewed there, he said that he has long planned to make a donation to the University.
He said he was finally convinced the time was right by Tim Kovacs, an athletic development officer for major gifts for the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, ODU's athletic fundraising organization. Kovacs was ODU's long-time director of football operations before joining ODAF earlier this year.
"I wanted to give back to the University that made everything in my professional career possible," Heinicke said. "Old Dominion has given me so much throughout my life.
"Every time I come back to the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area I feel like I'm home. Everyone at ODU treats me so well. It feels like a part of my family.
"This opportunity just felt right."
Although Heinicke was recruited and coached by Bobby Wilder, who helped build ODU's program from scratch, he has developed a close relationship with head coach Ricky Rahne. Minutes before kickoff Saturday night, he walked onto the ODU sideline and gave Rahne a bear hug.
He did the same thing last year before ODU upset Virginia Tech at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Taylor Heinicke threw for nearly 15,000 yards and 132 touchdowns at ODU.
When ODU clinched the Saturday's victory with a last-second Ethan Sanchez field goal, Heinicke celebrated in the end zone as the ball sailed over his head.
"I think Ricky's done a great job," he said.
"We've had some ups and downs and Ricky has faced some big challenges, including joining the Sun Belt Conference. It's a very tough conference. But he's really done well.
"He's been great about reaching out to alumni and didn't coach and making them feel like a part of the program."
Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics, says Heinicke's donation comes at a critical time for Monarch football.
ODU is in its second season in the Sun Belt, generally regarded as the best of the Group of Five leagues and needs to improve its facilities to continue to compete.
ODU could snag its second bowl bid in three years if the Monarchs defeat Georgia State at home on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m.
"If we want to keep pace, if we want to close the gap between ODU and some of the perennial Sun Belt powers, we're going to continue to need to show that not only can we put guys in the NFL, but that we get their continued support," Selig said.
Heinicke is among the more well-liked NFL players in part because he's a gracious winner but also because he overcame great odds to carve out an unlikely and successful career.
Heinicke passed for nearly 15,000 yards and 132 touchdowns and set 32 school records in his 3 ½ seasons at ODU, but he's faced much adversity since being signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014.
In November of 2020, almost six years after leaving ODU, he was home in Atlanta living with his sister Lauren hoping against hope that an NFL team would call. He had bounced around from team to team and played very little. He acknowledged at the time he was close to giving up on an NFL career.
Heinicke with ODU donor Dick Thurmond and ODAF Executive Director Jena Virga
But then the Washington Football Team called and asked him to come out for a tryout. He made the team and became a backup but found himself starting against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a playoff game. While the Bucs won by eight points, and went on to win the Super Bowl, he completed 26 of 44 passes for 306 yards and ran for 46 more and a touchdown.
When he gave up his body and dove into the end zone for the touchdown, it was replayed on every major sports network for days.
His comeback story made him a media darling. He played two more seasons for Washington before moving to Atlanta, where he was expected to be the backup, but recently became the starter.
"It's so awesome that Taylor has done this," Rahne said. "The journey he's had in the NFL has been a pretty winding road. It just shows how tough he is.
"Everyone sees his toughness on the field, when he's diving for touchdowns and doing those sorts of things. But to be able to go through the career he's had and not give up and know when others didn't agree that he deserved to play in the NFL, that's real toughness.
"He's had a little bit of validation with that. And as soon as he got that, to turn around and give back to his alma mater, that shows how generous he is and what he thinks of this place.
ODU's locker room opened earlier this year
"I didn't coach him. Bobby Wilder coached him and he deserves all the credit in the world for bringing Taylor to ODU.
"Taylor could easily say, 'Hey, you know, I don't feel that connection anymore.' But that's not the way he is.
"Atlanta had a bye and he could have been anywhere in the world he wanted to be. And he chose to be in Statesboro to root on his alma mater. That says so much about Taylor."
Thomas DeMarco, the guy whom Heinicke replaced as ODU's quarterback, is now his financial advisor. Kovacs approached DeMarco first about a naming rights donation.
"When we talked about it and I asked him if he wanted to do it," DeMarco said. "That's something I wanted to hear from him.
"Taylor thought it was a cool thing. He said, 'let's talk about it,' and we did the math and I told him that you're in a position to do this if you want to."
Kovacs said when he talked to Heinicke, "I told him this was an opportunity for him to be the first NFL alumnus to do a naming rights donation, to be able to leave your mark here.
"That appealed to him."
Former Football Director of Operations Tim Kovacs sought the donation from Heinicke.
Kovacs was hired in part to begin attracting donations with former ODU players.
There are nine ODU alumni in the NFL, including three on practice squads. It's been 14 years since ODU began playing football and other alumni are also doing well in the business world.
"The plan is to start getting more alumni to start giving, whether it's naming rights or an endowment," Kovacs said. "We have fewer than 10 scholarships endowed. So, I've talked to Ricky and we'd like to start doing more endowments moving forward."
Kovacs said plans are in the works to bring all nine NFL players together for an event in the next year.
Heinicke spent half a dozen or so weekends in Hampton Roads over the past year and often golfed with Wilder, with whom he remains close. He said he can't wait to see his name on the new locker room on his next trip.
"I'm very excited about that," he said. "I think that's a cool deal. I can't wait to see it."
"It's amazing how far ODU has come," he said. "And I wanted to play a small part in helping the program continue to be successful."
Minium is ODU's senior executive writer for athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Taylor Heinicke Donates $250,000 to ODU Football; New Locker Room Named in His Honor
