Oklahoma fans give Owen Heinecke hero’s welcome after NCAA battle in must-see moment

Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke exited the tunnel at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday before the Sooners' spring game in a moment that was monumental enough you'd believe Owen Field was actually named after the man.

Two days after being ruled eligible for the season after winning a legal battle over the NCAA, Heinecke entered the stadium alongside head coach Brent Venables as 50 Cent's "Many Men" blared throughout the venue and fans gave Heinecke a standing ovation to welcome him back to college football. He was also greeted by fellow starting linebacker Kip Lewis

Owen Heinecke enters Sooners' spring game to 50 Cent's 'Many Men'

On Thursday, Judge Thad Balkman at the Cleveland County Courthouse granted the injunction to give Heinecke another year of eligibility and made him immediately eligible. The NCAA had twice before this offseason denied Heinecke another year of eligibility, which forced him to take legal action for his last shot.

Heinecke's case hinged on COVID-19 interfering with his recruitment out of Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, which led him to play lacrosse at Ohio State after no worthy opportunities in football. OU didn't even have walk-on tryouts that year because of COVID, so Heinecke returned the next year after appearing in just three lacrosse games at Ohio State.

As a former walk-on who played primarily special teams the previous two seasons, Heinecke broke out last year as an All-SEC Second-Team honoree after recording 74 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. He started the last five games of the season at middle linebacker, so Thursday's outcome suddenly gave the Sooners another returning starter on their depth chart.

Heinecke was added back to the roster on Friday, but didn't actually participate on Saturday.

Although the spring game wasn't televised or streamed, video of Heinecke's return was all over social media.

"Many Men" became somewhat of a theme song for the Sooners' 2025 season to encapsulate their "Hard to Kill" mentality, as 50 Cent even performed the song at Memorial Stadium before the fourth quarter of OU's home College Football Playoff game against Alabama. Obviously OU fans were pumped for what went down as the most exciting moment of the spring game.

And no fan was bigger than former OU linebacker-turned-tight end Jaren Kanak, who sported a Heinecke jersey while awaiting to learn his NFL destination next weekend.

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