Taylor Heinicke’s run with Washington was brief in calendar time, but long on impact, and now his college days are getting a major honor to match.
Old Dominion announced Saturday that it will retire Heinicke’s No. 14 jersey at halftime of its Oct. 15 game against Georgia Southern. The timing came while Heinicke was in Norfolk, Virginia, for the Monarchs’ season-opening game, and the school said it will be the first jersey retired in ODU football history.
For Heinicke, the recognition lands after a football life that has already covered plenty of ground. He came to Washington late in the 2020 season as the team’s emergency “COVID” quarterback, signed off the couch and pressed into action for a Week 16 debut. Not long after that, with Alex Smith injured and Dwayne Haskins no longer on the roster, Ron Rivera handed him the start in the NFC Wild Card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Heinicke made that opportunity count. He threw for 306 yards and a touchdown and added 46 rushing yards and another score. Washington lost, but Heinicke’s performance stuck with the fan base, and it helped earn him a two-year extension.
What followed was a stretch that turned him from a stopgap into a familiar name in Washington. Though he was originally brought in as a backup, Heinicke started 24 games over the next two seasons and went 12-11-1 as a starter. His Commanders tenure included a last-second win over Indianapolis, a road upset of the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles and a convincing victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers and Tom Brady.
After leaving Washington in 2023, Heinicke signed with the Atlanta Falcons. He finished his NFL career in Los Angeles as Justin Herbert’s backup with the Chargers in 2024, and earlier this year he officially retired.
His college résumé is the reason this latest honor is coming. At Old Dominion, Heinicke started 45 games over four seasons and helped the Monarchs go 31-14.
He piled up 14,959 passing yards and 132 passing touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,320 yards and 22 scores. He was an FCS All-American and won the Walter Payton Award as the FCS’s top player.
ODU moved to the FBS in 2014, Heinicke’s final season with the program.
Before any of that, Heinicke entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015. Across 11 seasons, he spent time with the Vikings, Panthers, Patriots, Texans, Commanders, Falcons and Chargers. Of his 29 career starts, all but five came with Washington.
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