He was widely regarded as one of the best prospects in the United States and led Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington to three consecutive state championships. That tells you all you need to know about the resume for Jake Heaps.
The quarterback spent his first full practice day with new teammates after his signing was made official by the Lions early Monday morning. Despite his previous accolades, Heaps is of the mind you always have to treat it like a clean slate. Working with Jonathon Jennings, Travis Lulay and Alex Ross will help in that regard.
“Jonathon and Travis are two of the best in the business up here in this league right now,” said Heaps on Monday afternoon in Surrey.
“To be able to take advantage of their knowledge and their experience is huge for me, so I’ll be relying on those guys to help me pick up the playbook as quick as possible. I’ll be bugging them and asking them questions all the time.”
Heaps attended the Saskatchewan Roughriders Florida mini-camp in April. That was in between brief NFL stints with the Seattle Seahawks, including a full training camp stop in 2016. Competing daily against Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and the rest of the Legion of Boom no doubt helped his transition to the pros.
“That was a tremendous learning experience for me, I learned a lot as a football player,” explained Heaps.
“Getting to work with Russell Wilson was an opportunity I took full advantage of. I asked him a lot of questions and got to understand how he approaches the game and all that stuff. Him and I got close throughout that time, so it was a tremendous experience to be in that organization. I felt like I learned a lot as a football player, and I am excited to do the same thing and just soak up everything I can with the BC Lions.”
With Russell Wilson at his side, Jake Heaps throws a pass during Seattle Seahawks mini-camp in 2016. Photo: Seattle Times.
Heaps also learned rather quickly that you must be on your trash talk game when practicing against those brash characters with the LOB.
“Of course, absolutely,” chuckled Heaps.
“One of the things they really respected about me as a rookie was the way I handled my business and handled all my trash talking on the ping pong tables. We had a couple ping pong tables in the locker rooms and it was always a battle to see who was the best talker. They’re great guys, ultra competitors and you love he around that environment. The biggest thing was they are students of the game and it was always about how can you be better and what edge you could find. That was something I really grew from as a player.”
Heaps appeared in three pre-season games in 2016 and completed eight passes for 60 yards. He then remained on the practice roster until early October that season.
Wally Buono quickly brushed off any speculation this signing meant Jennings had endured a setback with his shoulder injury.
“This is something we probably would have done last week except Jake had prior commitments,” explained Buono.
“If you watched a little bit of practice early, Jonathon did throw the football lightly and those are all very good signs, right?”
Heaps prior commitment happened to be the Russell Wilson Passing Academy in Alaska. Growing up less than three hours away from his current pro football home allowed Heaps to follow the CFL and learn a thing or two about his new team.
Coach @jtheaps9 working the RWPA event at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska. #NoTime2Sleep pic.twitter.com/RtzgIRSO2q
— RWQB Academy (@RWQBAcademy) July 22, 2017
“I knew a lot about BC. Now that I have gotten into the NFL and pro game, I have a lot more respect for what these guys too. I am really excited to be here in BC,” added Heaps.