|
Legendary SCSU career winds down
 Media Credit: Adam Masloski SCSU quarterback Keith Heckendorf is a big reason for the Huskies´ success this season. He´s broken numerous SCSU records including most career passing yards, career completions and career TDs. Last season he broke four single season records as a Harlon Hill finalist for best Division II player.
|
|
When you look at what SCSU senior quarterback Keith Heckendorf has done both on and off the field of play, the question "What hasn't he done?" comes to mind.
Answer: there's not too much left he hasn't accomplished.
Heckendorf is responsible for holding nearly every offensive record as a Husky. The captain holds the record for most career passing yards (9,073), career completions (709), career touchdown passes (97) and career pass attempts (1,223) and he still has two games left in his collegiate career. Four times in his career he's thrown for five touchdowns (school record) and holds the record for passing yards in a game with 369 (twice).
The senior's best season was by far 2002 when he lead SCSU to a 9-2 record. He completed 203 passes, accumulated 2,817 yards, threw for 37 touchdowns and gained 2,944 yards through the air and by ground. All four of those stats are school records.
"I can't say enough about Keith," SCSU head coach Randy Hedberg said. "He's accomplished as much as he possibly can at this level. I can only say good things about him."
But as anyone knows, stats aren't the only thing that make a good quarterback. If you talk to anyone close to Heckendorf or the team, they'll be the first to tell you that he is also one of the team's biggest leaders.
"He tends to lead more by example than by speech," senior running back Josh Williams said. "He's always encouraging the team to get better and keep improving. He's a laid-back guy despite all the success he's had here."
Williams also said he felt that Heckendorf is always trying to help his teammates just as much, if not more than himself.
Heckendorf agreed, stating that he doesn't feel he's a very vocal leader, but feels he tries to lead more by his play on the field and actions off the field.
Priorities off the field
Off the field, the 2002 Harlon Hill candidate (Division II equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) is highly successful academically. The six-foot-one, 200 lb education major is on the SCSU Dean's List, the Athletic Honor Roll and he's also a Richard R. Greenhouse tutor in the Athletes for Success in the Classroom program with director and personal friend Shawn Kakuk. Kakuk also helped recruit Heckendorf to the Huskies in the spring of 1999 and the pair have remained close since.
"Any time with athletics and education, you have to find a balance and get your priorities straight," Heckendorf said. "I think I've done a good job focusing and striving to that goal."
Recently, Heckendorf was selected as one of 15 players in college football (all divisions) to receive a 2003 National Scholar-Athlete award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. Heckendorf is the first SCSU athlete to receive an NSA award.
To be eligible for the award, the recipient must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, have shown superior academic application and performance, have outstanding ability as a player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. Heckendorf joins some elite company as he was one of only two players from the NCAA Division II level and the only athlete from a Minnesota school to receive the award. The other two quarterbacks to receive it this season include Ohio State's Craig Krenzel and Mississippi's Eli Manning.
"He's just a motivated person, he leaves no stone unturned," Kakuk said. "I believe he is the hardest working player of any student-athlete on the SCSU campus. He just doesn't take too many things lightly."
A 1999 graduate of Mosinee High School (Wis.), Heckendorf was a three-sport athlete and tallied 4,000 yards passing and 41 touchdowns in his time there. From the time he was in sixth grade until he was a senior in high school, he attended a camp put on by his father. Bart Heckendorf used to be a wide receiver at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
"I was at camps a lot with my dad," Heckendorf said. "I was always learning and I always had my dad there helping me. Not a lot of kids can say that growing up."
In the spring of 1999, Heckendorf got a recruiting visit from Kakuk who was representing SCSU.
"To be honest, I had never heard of the school until they started to the recruit me," Heckendorf said. "I liked what I saw here and figured I had a great opportunity with the team and athletics."
Heckendorf red-shirted the '99 season, but quickly found his way into the starting position in the 2000 season after then QB Ryan Stetler went down with an ankle injury.
The rest is history.
"He's obviously improved a lot since his first season," Kakuk said. "I would say the results are astronomical."
Williams agreed stating that he felt Heckendorf has all the intangibles needed to be a quarterback.
"Obviously, his stats are one part of his success, but he brings things to this team that a quarterback needs and then some.
Giving Credit
Heckendorf stated that he feels without the help of his teammates, Hedberg, SCSU offensive coordinator Paul Rudolph and Kakuk, he wouldn't be where he is today.
"I've gained a lot of knowledge from coach Hedberg and coach Rudolph in my four years," Heckendorf said. "They've both helped me out a lot."
Kakuk and Heckendorf work out together in the off-season and he stated that his former recruiter has been a huge help to him both on and off the field. Kakuk even went as far as to say that their bond almost goes as deep as family.
"He's always been there to help me," Heckendorf said. "It's the best of both worlds to have him help me as a friend and a player."
Life after College
With the kind of numbers that Heckendorf has put up and the kind of recognition he has received in the past few years, life in the National Football League might not be too far away. Pro scouts from a few different NFL teams have been milling about the Selke Field grounds since August evaluating Heckendorf.
"It's definitely hard to practice when you know you have to people watching you," Heckendorf said. "Coach Hedberg has just told me to do what's gotten me here. I've just tried to play within myself."
However, both Hedberg and Kakuk believe that he has what it takes to get to the next level. Hedberg should know too, seeing as though he was a quarterback in the NFL for three seasons.
"I think he could compete at the next level," Hedberg said. "He does have a lot of intangibles that they look for."
Heckendorf is just happy to have made it this far.
"Obviously, being a professional athlete is almost every kid's dream," Heckendorf said. "I'm just glad I can look back and say I used every available resource to get me this far. I told myself at the beginning that I wanted to end these four or five years with being the best player I could be, I think I've used every resource I possibly could to get me to that point."
|
|
|
|
|
|
