Heard Back On Field For Fever
March 26, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release
Kevin Heard was content to let his football gear sit in the back of the closet and collect dust.
He was done playing. He was ready to close that chapter in his life. He was ready to get married and start a family.
Only it wasn't that simple.
While this is another story of an athlete who could not stay retired, it wasn't because Heard had that insatiable itch to prove he could still play. It was his wife who wanted him to rejuvenate his career.
"I didn't even want to come back and play at all," Heard admitted. "But she really wanted to see me play."
So here he is, thanks to some nudging from his wife, back on the field for one final season. On Saturday night, she will get to see her husband play for the first time when the Tri-Cities Fever steps on the field for its 2010 home opener at 7:05 p.m. against the Kent Predators at Toyota Center.
The Fever (0-2) is coming off a bye week and looking for its first Indoor Football League victory against a winless Predators team (0-3).
"It's going to be nice to be at our place playing after two long road trips to start the season," Fever coach Adam Shackleford said.
Heard, now 34 years old, is no stranger to Tri-Cities' fans. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound receiver is one of the original Fever players, having played for the team in two of the best seasons in franchise history, 2005-06. Despite missing three full seasons, the indoor football veteran seems to have picked up where he left off. In two games, Heard has nine catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
"It's taken a little bit to get back into it," Heard said. "But it's still the same game of football."
While it was his wife that pushed him to come back, the long road back for Heard never would have even started without a phone call from assistant coach Cleveland Pratt.
Pratt, who is now in his third season as a Fever assistant, texted Heard over the summer asking him if he knew of any players that might want to come up and play for the Fever this season.
As a joke, Heard said he was thinking about coming back to play.
"There was a lot of `LOLs' " going back and forth," Heard said.
Heard told his wife of the conversation, and to his surprise she supported the idea. At first he didn't quite know what to think. But it seemed that if he was going to make a comeback, this would be the time. There was no conflict with work and he could devote all of his time to football - again.
And so the comeback began. Heard started training in the fall and then when Shackleford was hired in December, the two sat down and talked.
"He told me that he would give me a fair shot to make the team," Heard said. "That's what I was looking for."
It was up to Heard to earn the roster spot. With six years of indoor football experience, Heard was back in his element and earned a spot out of training camp. His experiences have helped a football team with limited indoor experience, and at the same time, he has been a key contributor.
"He went out and earned his spot," Shackleford said.
Now Heard wants to earn a few victories. Heard says he has not had a losing season playing football since the seventh grade, and he doesn't expect it to start this season.
"I don't have to be the guy catching all the passes, I'll do what it takes for us to win," Heard said.
It's for only one season. Heard has made it perfectly clear that after this season is over - his playing days are over. But while he's back on the field, there is still that competitive fire that burns inside him.
"I have to keep going out and proving that I can still play," Heard said. "I was 7 years old when most of these guys were being born."
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Indoor Football League Stories from March 26, 2010
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