Everyone mentioned has been instrumental in the emergence of a football program that has burst onto the ODU athletic landscape in a most spectacular fashion. But someone you have left out is Craig Wilkins, a huge four year mainstay in our much maligned defense. Here are his highlights video and his stats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYxijpMrUDU
http://www.odusports.com/sports/m-footbl...aig00.html
Like Wilkins, Mayers was also significant in all four years of ODU football. Here are his video and stats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-bOrkyLdSc
http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/play...?id=181548
DeMarco was without doubt the face of this program for two and a half years. If he had not sprained his ankle, we most likely would not have seen Heinicke on the field until 2012 after being redshirted in 2011. He was in fact very much a triple threat player in the old school sense of the phrase. He carried the ODU offense passing and running, and his punts from the spread formation on fourth down were an incredible asset to the team. In case you have forgotten just how good he was, here are his video and stats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiNoBms2cOQ
http://espn.go.com/college-football/play...as-demarco
Heinicke is clearly the face of the program now, and has been almost since the day he replaced DeMarco in the lineup. His final stats and highlight video are still two seasons away from being recorded and produced.
I don't mean to take anything away from Ronnie Cameron. His level of play is well documented and verified by his making the roster for the Browns. But he was not a four-year contributor nor the clear "face" of the team.
To my mind, these four players are all future members of the
ODU Athletics Hall of Fame and should have a special place in the memories of ODU football fans. As for retiring the first football jersey number, I would not make that selection until Heinicke’s ODU career is over, and then I think the overwhelming consensus will be to retire number 14.