Catching up with Sam Heckel on his post-football future: ‘I’m pretty comfortable with not playing’ (Q&A) - syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. — Sam Heckel hadn’t had a weekend as enjoyable as last week’s in some time.

He was in Atlantic City on March 6 for the Maxwell Awards, rubbing elbows with Chase Young and a who’s who of other football stars. Then came an event in Philadelphia the next day to be recognized for his contributions to Uplifting Athletes and the rare disease community.

Since then, life suddenly changed as nearly every aspect of society has grinded to a halt amid a global health crisis.

Had those events been scheduled a week later?

“They would have been canceled,” Heckel said Friday morning. By then, just five days later, so much of his normal had already changed.

Instead of preparing for spring break and the remainder of spring football practice, Heckel was heading back home to Wisconsin as Syracuse University shifts to online classes.

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown the offseason into disarray. Syracuse got its third practice in Thursday morning, hours before the ACC suspended all athletic-related activity indefinitely.

Heckel is assisting the coaching staff as a student volunteer after being medically disqualified from participation last fall.

His career was cut short because of a history of head injuries. He also lives with congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare blood disorder that requires him to undergo plasma therapy every three weeks.

Heckel said he didn’t attend Thursday’s practice because he wasn’t feeling well.

“I literally stayed home all day,” he said. “Not trying to mess with any of that.”

He was with the team during Tuesday’s practice, mostly observing an offensive line unit he led as recently as last summer before his season abruptly ended in the first half of the season opener at Liberty because of a head injury.

He doesn’t know when team activities will resume. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending gatherings of 50 or more people be canceled or postponed over the next eight weeks, or until about mid-May.

We caught up with Heckel on Friday to talk about his weekend in Philadelphia and future plans in his post-playing career.

In Philadelphia, Heckel was honored as one of five honorees for the 2019 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Team, along with Kent State wide receiver Antwan Dixon, Davidson linebacker George Hatalowich, Penn student assistant Anthony Lotti and Kentucky linebacker Josh Paschal.

The centerpiece of the event, held at Lincoln Financial Field, was the Young Investigator Draft, in which researchers are selected to receive grant money that will accelerate scientific advancements for rare disease treatments and potential cures.

P-S: How was the event in Philly?

Heckel: "I’m not exaggerating. I was with my pops and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a while. We were at the Maxwell Awards. Chase Young was there. Joe Burrow didn’t show up, but it was still cool. Don McPherson was there and a ton of NFL legends. It was sweet. Everything was catered to us and stuff.

"The more exciting stuff, in my opinion, was the young investigators draft. I’m pretty sure they gave $250,000 to five or six research doctors. I got to meet with them and just talk about my rare disease to them. It was kind of nice because in some way, shape or form the majoriy of people there had gone through something that I had gone through, so that was pretty cool to see.

“I was talking to Cam (Lynch) and Rob (Long) and talking about possibly starting an alumni chapter for Uplifting Athletes. I was talking with George Hatalowich from Davidson, bouncing off ideas. It was really exciting."

P-S: Is any of the money that was given to the researchers going to a TTP researcher?

Heckel: “Honestly, next year I could talk to Rob about seeing if there is a doctor. I know there is one trial for TTP going on right now, but it has been for I’d say a little less than 10 years, probably because of funding and stuff. It wouldn’t be unrealistic to go seek out that doctor. That’s pretty hard to do. Regardless though, all these doctors are getting different grants for different rare diseases that they’re the top ones who are researching it. It’s nice to see because no one really does it.

“We all sort of got the red carpet treatment, even though it was really for Chase and them. It was awesome to be a part of it."

P-S: What was the coolest conversation you had?

Heckel: “Just talking to Cam Lynch was cool because he was talking about how I should pursue things right after football and talking about the alumni chapter was really exciting. I want to do anything to stay with the organization. But after I graduate it gets a lot harder to stay involved with that.”

P-S: What do you think the future looks like for you? The rest of the semester has gotten thrown into disarray.

Heckel: “The plan was to coach this spring, and that’s over, so I guess just finish out the semester and come back for fall camp. That’s kind of what we all have to do. I’m kind of guessing we’re going to be online for the rest of the semester. All of my professors hinted at that on the last day of classes. I don’t really know. I haven’t been home that long since I’ve been at college.”

P-S: Would you come back in the summer?

Heckel: “The plan was to take one online course so I could be with my family for a little, and then that next summer session take a class course and help with fall camp.”

P-S: What’s it been like transitioning into that role? You’ve had a few months to process your own career coming to a close. Has it filled the void in a way that you hoped it would?

Heckel: “It was kind of a slow start, didn’t really know what to do to fill the void of not being a football player. But over the past month or two, things have becoming more clear on what to do and what I want to do. I’m pretty comfortable with not playing, probably have been, but there’s more structure with it now.”

P-S: Was it tough to accept?

Heckel: “Yeah, I suppose. I didn’t really think about what it really meant to get DQ’d. It didn’t really hit that I wasn’t playing anymore for a while.”

P-S: Even going back last fall? It was always presumed that you’d be done even back in late September, early October.

Heckel: “I felt like that was the general consensus with both media and the team. At the time, I didn’t really know. I knew deep down I wasn’t going to play, but I didn’t want to admit that.”

P-S: I bet. When did you get the official word?

Heckel: “I think it was like right after the season ended. Mike (Clark) and I signed during that.”

P-S: I gotta imagine as a player you don’t ever think you’ll be in that situation.

Heckel: “When I came here, the fact I came here was enough. My doctor had told me before I came that there’s probably a high chance that you won’t finish it out and stuff, based off of injury or whatnot. That was kind of his own hypothesis, but I guess he was right.”

P-S: Just on top of the TTP, I’m sure you were hoping to prove him wrong in a way and finish out clean.

Heckel: “I am surprised I didn’t get disqualified because of TTP. If I ever had known I’d get disqualified, I’d have assumed it’d be for that. I‘m glad now that I’m OK with it and I know what I want to do besides football.”

P-S: Are you thinking of having the work you do in fall camp jumpstart a possible GA opening, or do you think you’ll transition into an outreach career like what Rob is doing with UA?

Heckel: “I would love to take a GA position somewhere and get more education. I still love the sport and love learning and being a part of it. But working with Rob and Brett (Brackett) would be awesome because I have a lot of passion with what they’re doing.”

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Nate Mink anytime: 315-430-8253 | Email | Twitter

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