Raiders Expect Safety Jeff Heath to Cowboy Up

Safety Jeff Heath, who played the first seven years of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, didn’t have to introduce himself to quarterback Derek Carr when he joined the Las Vegas Raiders this season as a free agent.

The 6-1, 213-pound Heath forced Carr to fumble through the end zone while trying to score the winning touchdown in the final seconds of a game in 2017, and the Cowboys held on for a 20-17 victory at the Oakland Coliseum.

Carr is the one who mentioned it first.

“He brought that up to me,” said Heath, who has come a long way since the Cowboys signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Saginaw Valley State in 2013. “We laughed about it a little bit. That’s a long time ago. It happens. He’s trying to make a play, I’m trying to make a play and it happens. He was a good sport about it, so hopefully I can make some more of those plays for this team now.”

Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli of the Raiders remembers the play well because he was defensive coordinator of the Cowboys at the time.

In fact, Marinelli remembers that Heath stepped up and knocked down Carr’s pass intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree one play earlier on second-and-goal from the eight-yard line.

“Instincts on the first one; he obviously has good ball skills to make that play,” Marinelli said. “That was a terrific play. The other one? That was relentless. He took a great angle and he was not going to be denied. He was not going to allow our team to be denied of a win. That thing was impressive. You saw it. He looked like a missile going.”

The 29-year-old Heath has been joined on the Raiders roster by three other former Cowboys—tight end Jason Witten and defensive lineman Maliek Collins and Daniel Ross.

That and the presence of Marinelli special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia made Heath’s decision to sign a three-year contract potentially worth $8 million with the Raiders an easy one.

“Familiarity with the coaches, Marinelli and Bisaccia was big, plus a few of my teammates,” Heath said. “I just feel like (the Raiders) have a good, young team. I like Coach (Jon) Gruden’s style and the things he values.

“ … It makes the transition a little easier when you’re going into something new with a guy who you’ve known for a while who is also going into something new. Once you play in the league for a while you get to know a lot of guys around the league, so there are a lot of guys on this team that I know. Never been teammates with them, but I just know through playing with them and I know guys who know them and training with each other.

“So, at this point, I feel like I know a lot of guys around the league, but like you said it does make it easier just going through something new with some familiar faces.”

One of those guys is Carr, and Heath knows about good quarterbacks since he played with Dak Prescott in Dallas.

So far, he likes what he sees from Carr and is anxious for more.

“I think he’s very high-energy guy,” Heath said. “He seems to command respect, command attention when he walks into the building. Leading is not necessarily just talking and giving rah-rah speeches, it’s more so how you conduct yourself, how you handle adversity, and how you handle success.

“So, like I said, I’m still getting to know a lot of these guys, and especially guys on the offense I haven’t spent much time with them at all. But my impressions of him are when he’s at the line, he seems to have command and he knows what he’s doing. He’s very assertive. He’s athletic and he can move with his feet and he’s very crafty at how he can get the ball out of his hands, throws at a lot of different angles, and seems to find guys.

“So, that’s my early impressions of him and I’m excited to get to know him a little bit more.”

Heath made his mark with the Cowboys on special teams before starting 44 games over the last three seasons and is known as a strong tackler, making 326 totals stops, including 247 solos, and forced five fumbles.

In addition, he had 24 pass breakups, eight interceptions and returned the only fumble he recovered 50 yards for a touchdown.

Last season, Heath was the NFL’s most efficient tackler, according to Profootballfocus.com, with one miss per 30 attempts.

“It was a big focus for me because the year before I didn’t tackle up to my standards at all,” said Heath, who is in the mix at safety for the Raiders with Johnathan Abram and Erik Harris. “With the athletes, we play against, (tackling) in my opinion is one of the toughest skills in football.

“When you have like (Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants) with the entire field to work with, it’s tough.”

But the Raiders, especially Carr, know Heath has what it takes.

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