Husky Roster Review: Heims Was Down But Not Out in Spring
Things turned quiet real fast when a player went down near the end of the first University of Washington spring football practice in March and didn't get up. Everyone in Dempsey Indoor strained to see who it was.
Sophomore edge rusher Maurice Heims soon was surrounded by trainers who gently attended to him, which seemed to indicate a neck injury.
More alarming, a team of emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, entered the football practice facility some 12 minutes after the injury happened and took over a grim situation. They assessed Heims' condition before transporting him to a Seattle hospital downtown for further tests.
The upbeat outcome was Heims, a fairly sturdy 6-foot-5, 246-pound sophomore from Frankfurt, Germany, suffered no serious damage and, in fact, returned to practice after he was forced to take three weeks off.
"It was a lot more scary than it was in the end," Heims said. "At the moment, it was definitely scary."
While UW spring football largely was upbeat from beginning to end, this proved to be the most unsettling moment of the 15 practices.
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Heims, who wears No. 45 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
THE WORLDLY HUSKY
Heims came halfway around the world to play American football, first landing in Southern California for high school, where Jimmy Lake's staff found him during the COVID pandemic, signed him to a scholarship and brought him north.
With his limited background in the game, the UW took on the German as a project, something Lake didn't shy from in his not quite two seasons as head coach, hitting and missing on different players.
In Heims' case, the scholarship gamble appears to be working out well. The strapping European player has built up a solid physique, is intent on learning the playbook and last fall offered glimpses of becoming a disruptive player for the Huskies.
Appearing in seven UW games in 2022, he was a menacing figure against Colorado, coming up with three tackles, broken down into a pair of tackles for loss and a sack.
His injury merely slowed his football progress some, but he was able to resume all regular football activity before spring practices concluded.
"I definitely wanted to solidify my position," he said. "Obviously, I have a lot of talent ahead of me in Bralen (Trice) and Zion (Tupuola-Fetui)."
The neck injury was just a false alarm. It was just an uncomfortable moment for him, his teammates and anyone watching it unfold. Once he returned, Heims didn't appear to be a tentative player at all. He felt grateful to be able to keep going.
"I'm glad I'm fine," he said as spring practice concluded, "out here in pads, able to play."
MAURICE HEIMS FILE
Service: Heims appeared in seven games, drawing snaps in the first four of the season, sitting out the next six, and getting back on the field for the final three outings, including against Texas in the Alamo Bowl.
Stats: All of his numbers came against Colorado in the fourth quarter, on one drive. He tackled a Buffaloes running back for a 2-yard gain and a 2-yard loss before breaking through and dropping quarterback Drew Carter for a 12-yard sack. It was a start.
Role: When healthy, he's solidly a back-up player who should see plenty of action this fall. A starting job isn't out of the questionfor Heims in 2024.
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