NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Current Atlanta Falcons and former Old Dominion quarterback Taylor Heinicke was back in Hampton Roads last week.
Heinicke staged his 10th annual football camp at Norfolk Christian High School.
Now a back for the Falcons, Heinicke was lightly recruited as a high school player in Georgia and ended up settling for Old Dominion.
He became the most decorated player in ODU’s short football history and set records along the way including the record for the most passing yards in a Division I college football game.
In short, Heinicke was a lot better than a lot of people had anticipated.
He made the NFL as an undrafted free agent and is now a league veteran.
Back in his college days, there was no NIL and the transfer portal did not exist like it does today.
Heinicke was asked what he thinks he would have done if the portal was around during his ODU playing days.
“I would like to say I would have stayed true to ODU because they are the ones that took a shot on me,” Heinicke said. “But my 18,19 year old self probably would have tried to transfer to an ACC school and try and get my name out there a little more.”
It turns out Heinicke got his name out there just fine playing at ODU, but he admits things are certainly different than they were 10 years ago.
“It’s a crazy world, you’ve got high school kids and college kids making more than guys in the NFL that have been there for three years,” Heinicke said. “It’s a wild time, but it is what it is.”