FAYETTEVILLE — Offensive lineman Jake Heinrich is leaving football after a series of injuries, he announced Monday.
Heinrich, a second-year redshirt freshman, posted his decision in a detailed message on his Twitter page. In it, he said he has ruptured “multiple intervertebral discus in the last few months alone and (had) my spine deteriorated to the point of a senior citizen, according to various doctors,” and “it simply makes sense to accept this new reality for the sake of my long-term health and quality of life.”
Per NCAA rules, scholarship athletes that are no longer able to compete can still have their tuition paid through a medical exemption. Heinrich said he plans to earn his degree in criminal justice later this year and enroll in graduate school at Arkansas.
Heinrich wrote that former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema approached him about the medical exemption a “few months ago and now Coach (Chad) Morris has approved it with no questions asked; for that, I am thankful as well.”
Heinrich was a highly recruited interior lineman out of Urbandale High School in Iowa, but he never played in a game for the Razorbacks. A shoulder injury caused him to miss his senior year of high school and he redshirted the 2016 season.
With Heinrich’s departure, Arkansas is down two offensive linemen who had eligibility remaining. Zach Rogers told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week that he is foregoing his final year of eligibility to enter law enforcement.
— Jake Heinrich (@JAKEHEINRICH1) January 22, 2018