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| Laurier receiver Dillon Heap |
And boy, can ever he ever do that.
If there will be one stat to prove it, once his career is said and done, it’ll be as the new OUA record holder for most career punt return yards. He needs just 15 yards to supplant Windsor’s Don Hollerhead (1971-75) from the top of the list, but what adds to Heaps allure is that he’s done it all as possibly the smallest man on the team.
Listed at 5’10” and 175lbs, the fifth-year receiver/return man from Waterloo, ON, Heap admits that he hasn’t “achieved the strength of the strongest guy at my position.”
“But I’ve definitely improved it. And that’s the important thing; where I was worst at I got better,” commented Heap, after attending practice this past week.
To say that he got ‘better’ would be an understatement.
Coming to Laurier via Waterloo Collegiate in 2005, Heap departed for his two year mission – in conjunction with the requirements of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – and didn’t step back onto a football field until 2008.
By the end of 2009, he had broken a CIS single-season record by returning 60 punts for 962 yards and been named the team’s MVP. At the end of 2010, he led the team’s receivers in touchdowns – on top of his astronomical return yard numbers.
Ask Heap what he credits to finding success in the OUA as an undersized, but shifty, player, it’s simply been a matter of “just using what I did have to the best of my ability, rather than focusing on my weaknesses … and becoming a niche player in that sense.”
“Part of the major concern for myself was, in high school, I was always able to compete – despite my weaknesses in my size … but coming into university was a big shock. Ultimately, I think it’s whether or not you can play football,” said Heap.
And football is something that has run through Heap’s veins since he picked it up playing with his two older brothers as a child. With the desire to beat his own siblings engrained in him at such a young age, you can take Heap at his word when he says he “hates to lose.”
With that being said, that’s one of the reasons a second season full of adversity has been so tough for Heap.
“As an individual, you can be content with what’s happened but, as a competitor, I want to win games,” said Heap, adding, “Going into [last] year, I had high expectations going in for myself. I think we ALL had high expectations … We thought we were going to be good. We went through a lot of stuff …
“This year, it’s kind of been the same thing. It’s hard when it ends up on the scoreboard that we’re down and have an ‘L’ in the loss column.
“We’ve dug ourselves into a little bit of a hole, but offensively and defensively we have good athletes with lots of potential and it’s just a matter of gelling and seizing the moment,” he summarized.
Despite the tough spell thus far for WLU, it will never overshadow the benefits of being a part of the Hawks.
“It’s been such a ‘family’ environment; a place where Coach Jeff does such a great job of … caring about each player,” he said.
“We also do a good job of looking out for each other. I can still meet guys from the past … and embrace them as brothers.”
And, aside from being an environment where he could grow athletically, how he’s been able to evolve spiritually has had an even bigger impact.
“My faith does play a role … [Football] has been a great platform for me to demonstrate what I believe in and talk to other people about what I believe because some of my habits and my actions and my characteristics are a little bit different than the typical university athlete,” commented Heap.
Put that all aside for the moment though and Heap still only has one current goal in mind – and it’s not the OUA record that he’s so close to achieving.
“I remember taking a look at [the record] in the off-season but, other than that, I’ve deliberately not looked until earlier this week when my brother emailed me. I didn’t really know where I was, I don’t really want to know where I am. I think that creates a little bit of expectation for me and it’ll make me force things during the game,” said Heap.
“I want the team to come first. However many stats I get, it’s all about winning games. At the end of my career, I think I’d rather have a Yates Cup or a Vanier Cup over a new record.”
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