Husky Roster Review: Heims Brings Worldly Approach to UW

The German import is moving ever closer to more meaningful playing time.

Maurice Heims gets a little emotional during the CFP national championship game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

As a University of Washington edge rusher, Maurice Heims shows up every year with an increasingly muscular frame, looking all the more fearsome, to the point he's beginning to resemble former teammate Bralen Trice.

Now he just needs to play like Trice, who patiently turned himself into a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, an All-America pick in some football circles and a third-round NFL draft choice for the Atlanta Falcons.

While their talent levels still might be a ways apart, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Heims' desire to succeed is second to none. He's come halfway around the world, from Hamburg, Germany, to learn and play this game.

"With everything i have going on playing football, you sometimes don't really have time to miss home as much," Heims said. "You have so many things to focus on."

Maurice Heims (45) chats up new teammate Ephesians Prysock (7) during spring ball. / Skylar Lin Visuals

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

For Jedd Fisch's new coaching staff, Heims spent the early portion of spring ball running with the No. 1 defense, but hurt his shoulder midway through the fifth session on the East practice field and missed multiple days.

Holding his injured wing, he ended up flat on his back and took off his helmet and tossed it in frustration. He walked off the field with two trainers attending to him. He didn't return to full contact until the spring game.

Spring football has been problem for him. The year before, he hurt his neck in a scary manner in Dempsey Indoor, bringing practice to a temporary halt, and was transported to a downtown medical center as a precautionary measure to be checked out.

Last season, Heims appeared in 14 of 15 games for the Huskies' national runner-up finisher, mostly on special teams, as his football development continued on a steady pace.

Five years after leaving Europe, after first stopping in California for high school ball, Heims looks more and more like a full-fledged American football player, ready to have a lot of success.

Maurice Heims came all the way from Germany to play Husky football. / Skylar Lin Visuals

MAURICE HEIMS FILE

What he's done: Before coming to the UW, Heims was introduced to the game in Germany, played a season of junior varsity high school ball in Southern California before having his senior varsity year canceled by COVID, meaning he had some catching up to do. He enters his fourth season in Montlake having appeared in 21 games. He has 9 career tackles, including a sack against Colorado in 2022.

Starter or not: Heims is getting ever closer to becoming a finished product. While he's in a highly competitive position group, he should play a lot in the coming season and even start if he is deemed worthy.

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