The road to the Washington Football Team was long and winding for Taylor Heinicke and it may or may not be his final destination.
But this much is clear: Heinicke, the unlikely hero of Washington’s 31-23 wild-card round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after throwing for 306 yards in just the second-ever NFL start, has been overlooked his entire football career.
Maybe that’s about to change. What won’t change is his too-good-to-be-true, Hollywood-type tale.
Consider how Heinicke came to receive a scholarship at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. The school had restarted its football program in 2009, just two years before Heinicke arrived. He wasn’t even a blip on its recruiting radar.
A university official was riding a shuttle bus at LaGuardia Airport after having watched ODU play Monmouth. He was wearing an ODU ballcap, which Heinicke’s trainer in Atlanta, a man named Earl Williams, noticed. He asked the administrator if he was a football coach, then told him that ODU should be recruiting this kid, Heinicke. After all, the boy was on his way toward a career passing mark of 4,218 yards – a Georgia high school record. He would be named the state’s Group 5A player of the year and a nominee for Gatorade player of the year.
Yet, he had no offers.
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TIGHT ENDS
TIGHT ENDS
WIDE RECEIVERS
WIDE RECEIVERS
RUNNING BACKS
RUNNING BACKS
QUARTERBACKS
QUARTERBACKS
GUARDS/CENTERS TOP AVAILABLE FREE AGENTS
GUARDS/CENTERS TOP AVAILABLE FREE AGENTS
Q&A with Ron Rivera, Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney
Coach Ron Rivera, General Manager Martin Mayhew and Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel Marty Hurney met with the media via Zoom on Feb. 3 to discuss the direction of the new front office. The interview is edited for space.
OFFENSIVE TACKLES
OFFENSIVE TACKLES
Never a quiet time for WFT
The dust never settles around the Washington Football Team.
Bargains can be valuable additions
Raise your hand if you muttered derisively last offseason when the Washington Football Team signed free-agent tight end Logan Thomas away from the Detroit Lions.
3 big thoughts
3 big thoughts