There’s a reason why Bryan Heinz is different from the averageBig Ten defensive back. Blame it on Barry Sanders.
“Every time he scored a touchdown, no dancing, he just flippedthe ball right to the ref,” Heinz said. “I loved that in him. Inthe world now, in the NFL, you got people dancing and pulling outcell phones. It’s not me.”
Then who is Heinz?
“He’s probably one of the most humble kids I’ve ever met, one ofthe best guys I’ve ever met,” said Slade Larscheid, a Northwesternplace kicker. “He puts the team before himself always. He’s just agreat guy.”
Heinz also happens to be the NU football team’s promising youngsafety. As a redshirt freshman, he led last year’s squad with fiveinterceptions, good for third in the conference.
But two years ago, this Lone Tree, Colo., native didn’t evenhave a scholarship.
Heinz was not offered a free ride by a ny Division I programs,even after earning All-State accolades his senior season.
“It’s tough at first, not getting recruited,” Heinz said. “Ittakes a little bit on your pride. It humbles you a lot. But when Igot here, I knew I had a great opportunity.”
Heinz accepted an invitation to walk onto the team in 2002, withthe possibility of earning a scholarship later in his collegiatecareer.
“That’s the first thing (the coaches) tell you,” Heinz said. “Nomatter who you are, no matter what you can do, if you go out thereand you work hard, you’re going to get a scholarship as awalk-on.”
After a season on the bench and strong spring practices, Heinzwas finally offered a scholarship last May. Meanwhile, he made aname for himself among the Wildcats’ coaches.
“Last spring, we started to see him show up,” head coach RandyWalker said. “Obviously, he has enough talent and he’s skilled, buthim and a million other guys. He’s a quick study. He picks thingsup extremely quick, a great learner. He’s one of those guys whereyou coach him one time and he gets it.”
The NU staff was just learning what coaches had seen in Heinzthroughout his life.
“He has always been a good athlete,” said Tom Heller, whocoached Heinz in youth football and basketball for eight years. “Hewas willing to work hard, and he was always very coachable. He hadpretty big expectations for himself.”
Steve Heinz, Bryan’s father, said that Heller was one of thegreatest influences in his son’s life.
“He was all about teamwork and taking responsibility for youractions on the court, field, and in the classroom,” Steve Heinzsaid. “Things that parents always try to teach their kids werebeing reinforced daily.”
Encouraged by Heller and his parents, Heinz carried his highschool football and basketball teams. But the sport that he wouldpursue beyond high school was determined long before he was afreshman.
“It was my fourth grade season, and it was the first time theyhad moved me to running back,” Heinz said. “I had a big day, I hadfive touchdowns, and that’s what really got me started. That wasthe first time I knew this game was for me.”
From that day on, Heinz never looked back. In his four years atHighlands Ranch High School, the all-state athlete played runningback, quarterback, wide receiver and safety. Still, he could onlyattract Division I-AA programs.
Luckily for Heinz, Bill Mallory put the high school star incontact with NU coaches. Mallory, whose daughter was a friend ofHeinz and his family, was a former football coach at Miami of Ohioand Indiana.
After NU recruiting coordinator Pat Fitzgerald visited Lone Treeand Heinz went on an unofficial visit to the Cats’ campus, theColorado native was sold.
“I felt like I was at home,” Heinz told his father aftervisiting NU.
After Heinz’s 2003 season, Division I coaches had to be kickingthemselves for missing out on a humble, “coachable” kid who had thepotential to succeed in the Big Ten.
“He was a real good high school football player,” Walker said.”I don’t want to minimize that. But sometimes really good highschool football players get overlooked, lost in the cracks.Probably one of the hardest things to tell about high schoolplayers are secondary players. It’s just a crapshoot half thetime.”
It was clear NU won that gamble on Oct. 11, 2003 againstIndiana, when Heinz had an overtime interception in the Hoosiers’end zone, his second pick of the game, to seal a 37-31 win for theCats.
“If you don’t think about him, you don’t notice him a whole lot,other than when he’s making good plays,” defensive coordinator GregColby said. “But when the ball gets tipped, you can bet your lifeBryan’s right there catching it for an interception.”
