After sitting out his first season on campus, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Brett Heggie is ready to make major contributions for the Florida Gators this season.
Heggie came in last year still rehabbing a broken bone in his wrist suffered in high school. With the injury slowing his progress, the former Under Armour All-American found himself taking mostly third and fourth string reps at center and would take a redshirt year to ensure enough time for his wrist to heal completely.
“I broke my scaphoid my first game of my senior year in high school,” said Heggie. “I played nine games with it and I didn’t know it was broken, so then I had surgery and I was in a cast for eight months. It took a long time to heal. It took probably about a year to heal completely.”
Heggie said after a long recovery process, his wrist finally felt back to one hundred percent again in early January during Florida’s bowl week. It was a difficult time for him, knowing he could not play to his full abilities or do much to maintain his upper body strength.
While he wasn’t playing, he made the most of his time at practice getting to compete against one of the best defensive lines in the country day in and day out.
“It was difficult,” he said. “Because I really struggled using my hand and I was coming out here and I was playing against some of the best defensive linemen in the country in Joey Ivey and Caleb Brantley and all those guys, so I got a lot better over that whole year and I really improved as a player.”
With the injury came bad habits. To compensate for not being able to bend the wrist and to ease the pain, Heggie’s technique slipped. Along with size and strength, good technique is vital for offensive linemen as much as any position on the field.
“I couldn’t bend, especially when I got out of my cast,” Heggie said. “I couldn’t bend it, so I had to do a lot of rehab. And then in high school that whole year I really couldn’t use it, so I was blocking a lot with my forearm. So, when I got here I was doing the same thing, and you can’t do that, especially at this level. You have to be fundamentally sound the whole time.”
Since his arrival, Heggie has been regarded as one of the toughest players on the team. If playing an entire season with a broken wrist doesn’t prove it enough, fellow offensive lineman Martez Ivey shared a story last season of Heggie’s finger popping out of place on a play during practice. Ivey said Heggie simply went to the side, popped his finger back into place and got back in to take another rep.
There is no question of Heggie’s physical toughness, but he has developed his mental toughness as well. Whether it is working every day to improve his technique, constantly studying the playbook or watching film, he works on the mental aspect of his game just as much as the physical.
“He wants to do well,” said offensive line coach Brad Davis. “He spends a lot of time outside of required team activities studying film and being in our offense. He’s kind of a gym rat, so to speak. He’s kind of working himself into a player that we’re going to rely on quite a bit this fall. Every day he’s got to go out and compete and earn it. So far he’s done a heck of a job for us.”
Heggie came in as a center but should see most of his playing time at the left guard spot for the Gators this fall. As a versatile player, he provides options and depth, something the offensive line could need down the road.
He is currently competing for a starting spot with guards Tyler Jordan and Fred Johnson. The transition from center to guard has been a smooth one for Heggie, as he feels he can be more physical without having to worry about the mental demand that comes with playing center.
“It’s been going great,” he said on the position change. “It took me one practice to get used to it. I’m doing a little bit of both right now, but that’s where I’m at right now.”
With spring quickly coming to a close, Heggie knows there are still parts of his game he needs to improve before the season rolls around. As he continues to take steps forward, he could be a key to an offensive line that is ready to prove itself in 2017.
“It’s mostly mental,” said Heggie. “Once you get the mental stuff down then you’re good, so once I got that down, once I got my wrist healed, I think I made some big strides. But I’m still working. I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”