Taylor Heinicke made his first NFL start for the Carolina Panthers.
Nearly a decade later, he’s getting some cool recognition for his college football career.
It was announced this weekend that Heinicke will have his number retired at Old Dominion, where he was a star.
Heinicke rocked number 14 for the Monarchs.
His number will officially be retired on October 15.
During Saturday night’s Old Dominion Football game, the Monarchs announced they’ll retire Taylor Heinicke’s #14 jersey October 15th at halftime of the Georgia Southern game.
He’ll become the first ODU football jersey retirement @WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/l9plulXafl
— James Kattato (@jckattato) September 6, 2026
Heinicke isn’t currently under contract with an NFL team. The 33-year old QB last played in a regular season game in 2024 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Taylor Heinicke College Career
Heinicke earned his spot at Old Dominion with a monster high school career at Collins Hill in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
As a senior, he threw for 4,218 yards and 44 touchdowns.
That earned him a spot at ODU, where he started from the outset. He went 10-3 as a freshman and 11-2 as a sophomore before Old Dominion moved up to FBS and went 8-4 in 2013. Old Dominion fell off to 6-6 in 2014, but he still put up massive numbers.
He’s became the 18th quarterback in Division I history to pass for at least 10,000 career yards and run for 1,000 career yards.
Heinicke also spent some time punting for the Monarchs, for good measure.
Taylor Heinicke NFL Timeline
Heinicke went undrafted in 2015 and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He never appeared in a game for Minnesota in 2015 or 2016.
Early in 2017, he was cut by Minnesota and signed with the Patriots‘ practice squad for about three weeks.
He closed out the 2017 season with the Houston Texans and made his debut on Christmas Day in relief of T.J. Yates. Heinicke completed his only pass but then had to leave the game with a concussion.
The Panthers claimed him off waivers in April 2018, and he started in Week 16.
In that first start, Heinicke was 33-for-53 for 274 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.
From 2020 to 2022, Heinicke spent time with the Washington Commanders. He went 7-8 as a starter in 2021 (20 touchdown passes) and 5-3-1 as a starter in 2022 (12 TD passes).
Heinicke played for the Falcons in 2023 and was 1-3 as a starter.
In 2024 with the Chargers, Heinicke appeared in four games, none as a starter. He completed 3-of-5 passes for 28 yards.
In his NFL career, Heinicke appeared in 42 games, starting 29 of them with a 13-15-1 record. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 6,663 yards, 39 touchdowns and 28 INTs.
Heinicke also ran 114 times for 608 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and three touchdowns as an NFL quarterback.
He could conceptually still be someone’s backup, but for now, it appears that’s not in the cards for Heinicke, who will soon be recognized for his brilliance as a college football player at Old Dominion.
Panthers’ Ex-QB To Have Number Retired For Legendary College Career