Taylor Heinicke has had a turbulent career so far. He was actually going to finish his studies when the Washington football team offered him a second chance, which he took against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now he will meet Tom Brady and Co. again on Sunday.

Munich – Heineken didn’t want to. For whatever reason. Chance missed on a sensational pun.

Heinicke drinks Heineken. Hahaha.

Yes, yes, the category “Dad Jokes”, but everything is allowed in advertising. And such a cheap slogan sticks, among sports fans anyway.

Bud Light won instead. In record time. Unfortunately without a pun. But with money for Heinicke.

Ready and waiting. https://t.co/gwEUYEQgHc

– Bud Light (@budlight) September 21, 2021

Shortly after the tweet, the thing was in the bag. And who does the Washington football team quarterback have to thank for that?

That’s right, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Because the game against the eventual Super Bowl champions changed everything for Heinicke in the 2020 playoffs, as he now revealed ahead of Sunday’s re-match.

Already finished with football

“I feel like I’m getting better every week and learning something every week. But like I said, my life has changed dramatically,” Heinicke said. “Last year I thought I was done with football. Since that game, I’ve made good money and I just feel a lot more comfortable with life. It’s a totally different feeling than what I had last year at this time. “

Heinicke surprisingly turned it on in the game – the second (!) of his career as a starter – trading punches with legend Tom Brady, throwing for 306 yards and a touchdown while running for another touchdown in the 23-31 loss. The opposing coach is still impressed today. “He can play. He can run,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. “He threw some great balls in that playoff game. I think this team plays very, very hard for him. I like the way he’s playing.”

Played Heinicke hasn’t been for a long time, though; he’s been something between a typical backup and a hapless walk-on. In 2015, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent, but didn’t make his NFL debut until 2017 with the Houston Texans.

He played his first game as a starter with the Carolina Panthers in 2018, but was released in August 2019. He also didn’t find his luck in the XFL with the St. Louis BattleHawks in 2020. He lost the duel for the starter position, and the league disbanded in April.

The consequence: he went back to Old Dominion University to finish his degree in mechanical engineering.

Call from Washington

Until the call from the Washington football team. He therefore returned to the NFL on December 8, on the Practice Squad. Second row. More than a year after his last game.

And then it all happened very quickly. In Week 16 he filled in for the booted-out Dwayne Haskins, then in the playoffs because Alex Smith was out again.

Then to work his magic against the Buccaneers. It was one of those incredible postseason stories, a little winter fairy tale. For Heinicke, it was his second career chance at 27.

Which he initially grabbed with both hands, as he was rewarded with a two-year contract. But the magic from the Bucs game has faded a bit. He currently holds the starter’s job because veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick was injured in the first game of the season and has not yet recovered.

Heinicke probably not the answer

Of the seven games with Heinicke as the starter, Washington lost five, and he has thrown for 1,928 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions so far. His rating is 84.3, and WFT’s 2-6 record isn’t all Heinicke’s fault.

But as it stands right now, he is not the answer in Washington to the franchise quarterback question that has been desperately asked for some time. Maybe the Bucs will be a career booster once again.

Either way, Heinicke is relishing the second chance. Even without Heineken.