You have the standard obituary article, with more attention to his NFL career. But as with any life, there’s a lot more. A life like Craig Heyward has many other stories and things for which to remember him. There is the great Zest commercial, which DeadSpin links to a parody/imitation from YouTube.com, because at this time no one has uploaded the original.
There are those in New Jersey who remember his high school days.
Heyward, a big, powerful running back, was voted one of the Top 10 offensive players of the century by The Star-Ledger after rushing for 5,142 yards and scoring 74 touchdowns for Passaic. He was first team all-state in 1982-83 and also played linebacker, leading Passaic to two North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 titles. Passaic won The Star-Ledger Top 20 trophy as the state’s No. 1 team in 1983.
Tom Elsasser coached Heyward at Passaic High from 1980-82.
“He was physically dominating,” Elsasser said last night. “He turned 14 years old on the first night he played varsity football and ran for three TDs against Memorial of West New York.
“He was 5-11, 215 as a freshman and could run a 4.5 40. What separated him was his size and speed. He started for me as a fullback and was a tailback in his junior and senior years.
“I remember one day I brought him home to Monroe Street in Passaic and all the little kids in the neighborhood ran up to him when he stepped out of the car and they would be chanting and tease him,” Elsasser said. “He would stand there and then jump at them and they’d run away and he’d laugh, and the kids would come back again and try to get him mad. He was like a folk hero to the little kids in the neighborhood.
“I remember seeing him when he was either in the fourth or fifth grade, he was much bigger than the other kids, holding a basketball over his head and the other kids trying to jump up and get it.”
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Friends who had visited recently with Heyward, including one-time NFL quarterback Bobby Hebert, a former teammate in New Orleans and Atlanta, did not expect his death to come so quickly.
Hebert told ESPN.com two weeks ago that he was apprised that the tumor had wrapped itself around Heyward’s brain, that further surgical attempts were not planned, and that the once-mighty fullback would likely survive another three to five years.
“The one thing he’s still got and that hasn’t changed a bit,” Hebert said at the time, “is that devilish sense of humor of his.”
Heyward’s humor and gregariousness were probably the thing those who interacted with him most often cite.
Of course, his Pitt career was quite outstanding.
Mr. Heyward, 39, died yesterday morning at his home in Atlanta. Cause of death is unknown, but he has been in ill health since he was diagnosed with a benign tumor, which was partially removed, in 1998. Mr. Heyward had a recurrence of the tumor last year, and some of his former teammates have been asked to donate money to help pay his soaring medical bills.
Mr. Heyward was one of the most popular and productive running backs to play at Pitt, accumulating 3,086 career yards and leaving school after his junior season to become a No. 1 draft choice of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints in 1988.
“The thing I liked about Ironhead is you never had to worry about his effort,” said former Pitt wide receiver Bill Osborn, who also was from New Jersey and was recruited to Pitt the same year as Mr. Heyward. “When we would line up, you knew he was going to give maximum effort every time. He was a tough, hard-nosed guy who loved life.”
“He was the perfect teammate,” said Thomas Jefferson High School coach Bill Cherpak, one of the linemen who blocked for Mr. Heyward. “You loved [having] him on your team.”
His cause of death is presumed to be the return of the same brain tumor that ended his NFL career in 1998 and caused the host of physical ailments leading to a portion of his brain being removed to try and remove the cancerous tumor.
Heyward’s health steadily declined after learning two months ago that the same tumor that ended his NFL career as a Colt in 1998 — known as a chordoma — had returned. Heyward underwent surgery at Emory Hospital in his hometown of Atlanta, but doctors were unable to completely remove the tumor.
Heyward, a father of three, was blind in his right eye and required a wheelchair after suffering a stroke two years ago that left him partially paralyzed.
“I got a call at 4:30 or 5 that he had passed away,” said Blair Armstrong, who coached Heyward’s son, Cameron, at Peachtree Ridge High School. “He was in a hospice when he died.”
Crap. Thinking about this makes my Dalmore 12 year-old taste like some cheap Ballantine.
