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sports
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017
Former KU QB Jake Heaps re-signs with Seahawks
Junior quarterback Jake Heaps passes the ball during the second half of the Kansas Football Spring Game Saturday afternoon April 13. KU's 2013 season will begin on Saturday Sept. 7 against South Dakota.
AMIE JUST
@Amie_Just
File photo/KANSAN
He played for Kansas in 2013 under Charlie Weis before transferring to the University of Miami in Florida.
Former Kansas quarterback Jake Heaps announced he re-signed with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday.
- Heaps took to Twitter to announce the news.
The Seahawks didn't have a quarterback in their 2017 draft class. They have a solid starter in Russell Wilson, but their second-in-command in Trevone Boykin had some recent off-the-field incidents.
Boykin was arrested in late March in Dallas on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and public intoxication. He was in a car that crashed into pedestrians and a night club. Seven people were sent to the hospital after the incident.
These charges weren't the Boykin's first. He was placed on a year-long probation while at TCU after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. Terms of his probation also included a $1,500 fine, $237 in court costs, alcohol awareness and anger management courses and 80 hours of community service.
Back in late March, reporters asked Seattle coach Pete Carroll about Boykin's future. with the team.
"Early indications are that everything will give him an opportunity to be back with us," Carroll said.
As of Tuesday morning, Boykin remains on the roster.
Before the Seahawks resigned Heaps, they didn't have a third quarterback on their roster after Wilson and Boykin.
Heaps has bounced around the NFL since 2015. After his final year of eligibility with the Hurricanes, he was signed by the New York Jets on May 11, 2015, before being released on August 27, 2015.
The Seahawks first signed him on May 2, 2016. He played in all four preseason games for Seattle, completing 8-of-19 passes for 64 yards. He was released during their final roster cuts on Sept. 3, 2016, and placed on the practice squad on
Sept. 13, 2016. He was released less than a month later on Oct. 3, 2016.
He started his college eligibility at BYU after being rated the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country by both Rivals and Scout.
During his freshman season at BYU in 2010, played second fiddle to starting quarterback Riley Nelson. But early in the season, Nelson was sidelined with a season-ending shoulder injury and Heaps took over starting duties. His first start came against the Nevada Wolfpack — a team led by quarterback Colin Kaeper
nick.
By the end of his freshman season, Heaps started 10 games, including a bowl game win against UTEP. He finished the year with 2,316 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His 15 passing touchdowns was a new program record for a freshman quarterback.
Heaps' college
career was even more tumultuous than his NFL start."
Heaps' second season was less successful. He started the first five games for BYU before he was benched for Nelson due to poor play. Heaps finished the season with 1,452 yards passing, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. Before BYU's bowl game, he announced that he was going to transfer to Kansas.
Heaps redshirted for the 2012 season, due to NCAA transfer rules. He started for the Jayhawks right out of the gate under Charlie Weis in 2013, but lost his starting position to then-freshman Montell Cozart toward the end of the season. He finished his redshirt-junior campaign with 1,414 yards passing, eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Midway through the summer, he announced he was leaving the program to transfer to the University of Miami in Florida.
At Miami in 2014, Heaps was beaten out for the starting job by a true freshman in Brad Kaaya - who was just drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft - before the season even began. He played in four games, completing 6-of-12 passes for 51 vards.
The full list of Seattle's and other teams' undrafted free agent signings will be released soon, ahead of rookie mini-camps.
Senior Column: Recounting transformative years at the UDK
- SKYLAR ROLSTAD @SkyRolSports
A digital clock read 12:55 in the Sprint Center. I peered at the clock to make note of the game's progress and plugged away at a game recap I'd been conditioned to construct for the last four years.
There was another note I made, too. A mental one. This was the last game of the Kansas Jayhawks' season and the last I'd cover for the University Daily Kansan.
It was March, and the entire Kansas fanbase was overwhelmingly confident that what unfolded in front of me would end in a positive manner for the Kansas Jayhawks, led by the national player of the year and one of the best freshmen in the country.
There might have been 12:55 left in the game, and a couple more months left in the semester, but I knew what was next. Effectively, Kansas had lost to the Oregon Ducks. Effectively, college as I knew it was over.
Spending last season covering Kansas basketball was the culmination of my experience in journalism during college. The lessons from friends and mentors that the Kansan has provided me the chance to meet will stick with me for the rest of my career.
I am so grateful to have spent four years at one of the greatest proving grounds in basketball. However, it would never have been as fun without the people I met along the way.
That said, this might be the worst column I've ever written because it took me this long (the Kansan's content management system says I've written almost 400 articles here) just to coherently write what happened in a basketball or soccer game. Bear with me, because putting into words those years at the Kansan that transformed me into a completely different person sure is arduous.
Over those years, I've never written about myself. Here's one word I don't think I've ever written in a Kansan article: I.
As a freshman I watched Kansan editors, who were only acquaintances at that point, walk toward the court at Allen Fieldhouse. Subconsciously, I set a goal to take
their place by the time I was a senior.
And not many college students have the chance to document a particular point in time of one of the greatest college basketball traditions in the nation. To be honest, that weighed on me a little every time I walked through the hallway where past Kansas basketball players are immortalized on the wall near the Jayhawks locker room. Making that walk became a ritual prior to every home game.
I could not imagine college at KU without the Kansan. I encourage every freshman in the J-school to get involved as quickly as possible, keep an open mind and be ready to learn through real experience (and real mistakes) at the Kansan.
My mom woke me up from a nap about four years ago to tell me I got accepted to KU. I didn't think I would remember that day so well. In my last semester, I'm only taking 10 credit hours so I've done plenty of napping. My time in college is ending a little bit like it began.
I have a big career decision coming up soon. If I make a decision half as good as the one I made when I chose to come to Kansas, or work for the Kansan, I'll know I made a great one.
Senior Column: No regrets after two great years here
▶ BRIAN MINI
@brianminimum
When I first arrived on campus, I was always excited that one day I'd get the chance to write for the newspaper that I had so frequently picked up my freshman year. Four semesters spent on staff later, the experience has surpassed all expectations.
Coming into college, my only experience in reporting was a semester of writing for my high school newspaper, which in hindsight probably wasn't reporting. I was lucky enough to cover softball and football in my first semester with the Kansan, a semester where I might have learned more at Rock Chalk Park and Memorial Stadium than I did in some classes.
I got my first taste of writing on a deadline, which has always been a combination of an exciting and nerve-racking experience.
I can't count the amount of times I thought I wouldn't finish a story because I went back and forth over word choice or the inclusion of a statistic.
These experiences made me a better writer in general, too. Writing game stories and working alongside great editors made me more aware when writing papers for class, something that I'd probably be struggling with if it weren't for my time at the Kansan.
My first few contributions to the Kansan were preseason softball, where I sat shivering in the stands, nervously scribbling notes on a few pieces of notebook paper I had torn out after class. Going back and reading those first stories are a pretty good indication of progress.
Four semesters spent on staff later, the experience has surpassed all expectations."
My senior year of college has been a year of firsts. I resumed writing on the football beat and joined the basketball beat.
Thanks to that opportunity, I went to my first media day, traveled to Kentucky for Kansas' win in the Big 12/SEC challenge and spent plenty of late nights at Allen Fieldhouse trying to finish a story. These weren't just the typical fun college experiences, but unique and exciting days that I'll never forget.
Thanks are due to the rest of the Kansan staff who made this even more enjoyable than I thought it could be. The amount of effort that went into everyone's work was incredible and I've always tried to emulate that.
You won't find a more entertaining, welcoming and creative group of people on campus. They were a joy to interact with and I'm so glad I got to be a part of this team.
My advice to anyone thinking about joining the Kansan would be to do it as soon as possible. I spent two years here and I still felt like I wanted more time.
I started my Kansan career interviewing future pro softball player Chaley Brickey and ended it covering National Player of the Year in Frank Mason III. I can't think of anything better than finishing my college career with one last column.
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