Local legend Heap comes full circle with Cards

FLAGSTAFF -- Todd Heap was the quintessential All-American boy when late Arizona State football coach Bruce Snyder began recruiting him in 1996. So center Scott Peters figured the Sun Devils were in trouble when the coaching staff selected colorful senior lineman Grey Ruegamer as Heaps recruiting host. Todd walks into the room and were watching a movie called Hershey Highway, Peters recalled, sheepishly. Its a miracle Todd ever came to ASU. Heap has blocked much of that visit from his memory. I think there were bottles of Crown Royal all over the room, he said, laughing. But those guys were great teammates. Thats Heap in a nutshell: unflappable, undeterred and when he encounters a negative experience, he turns it into a positive. He was a stalwart young man with upstanding morals, said Ruegamer, an All-American, two-time Super Bowl winner and 10-year NFL veteran. Hes incorruptible. Believe me, we tried. Heap wanted to play quarterback at storied Mesa Mountain View High School, and he could throw the ball better than anyone on the team. It would have been easy to press the issue given his bloodlines. The Mesa Community College gymnasium is named after his grandfather, Theo Heap, an ASU basketball player who passed on his athletic genes to Todds father, John. Former Cowboys quarterback Danny White is Heaps cousin. You had to be pretty darned competitive to get out in the back yard with the Heap bunch, said then-Mountain View coach, Bernie Busken. But it was clear in about five minutes that he was going to be our tight end. With his height and his body, I told his dad I thought he could be the best in the country by his senior year. So Heap took the position by the reins. He led the Toros to consecutive 14-0 seasons his junior and senior years and back-to-back state 5A championships. And he carried that ability to ASU. His first college catch was a one-handed, 15-yard grab in the back of the end zone against Washington. I remember one against New Mexico State where two defenders high-lowed him, Peters said. I mean, they absolutely crushed him, but he still came down with the ball in one hand. It was those kinds of plays that led Snyder to quip rather casually that Heap was a Golden Retriever because he could go get balls. The nickname morphed into Golden Receiver, and with each additional circus catch, the kid with the golden locks, the golden-boy image and the eye-popping athletic talent built his legend. If he were playing college ball today hed be a YouTube and TwitPic legend because of the catches he made, longtime ASU media relations director Doug Tammaro said. Heap admits it would have been cool if the Cardinals had drafted him and allowed him to complete a local football trifecta. But he embraced Baltimore, and the city embraced him back. Heap has played in 133 career games (128 starts) with 467 receptions for 5,492 yards (11.8 yard avg.) and 41 touchdowns. He is the Ravens career-leader in receiving touchdowns and second in receptions and receiving yards. Since entering the league in 2001, his 467 receptions rank fifth among tight ends behind Tony Gonzalez (808), Jason Witten (617), Antonio Gates (529) and Jeremy Shockey (510), while his 41 touchdowns rank behind only Gates (69), Gonzalez (64) and Dallas Clark (44). So when Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome called Heap about a week ago to inform him the Ravens were releasing him after 10 years of productive service, it came as a total shock. I was thinking he was going to be saying something else, Heap said. "In one respect, Im sad to see that era end, but Im even more excited to see this one begin. There is plenty of mileage on Heaps body. Hes battled injuries the past few seasons, leading some to question whether he has anything left in the tank. But he still had 40 receptions last year, and his 10 receptions for 108 yards against the Chiefs in the NFL Wild Card round last year were franchise postseason records. I remember standing here about four years ago saying that same thing about Kurt (Warner), coach Ken Whisenhunt said when asked if Heap could still add to the offense. Im not going to make that assessment, but it was pretty impressive what I saw him do on tape last year. Heap may help open things up for receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He may become a valuable safety valve for new Cards quarterback Kevin Kolb. He could be a red-zone terror. But all of that was discussion for another time. Monday was all about the return of a native son. This is really home. This is where I really grew up, where I saw the Cardinals from day one, saw the ups and downs, Heap said. What better way to finish a career than to take the Cardinals back to the top?"