Saying good-bye to a dream is never easy but Florida State offensive lineman Matt Heinz made that difficult decision on Monday. The junior guard worked hard last season and this spring to rehabilitate his back following surgery to repair two herniated discs. Despite his hard work, it was back to square one after a recent setback. An MRI taken last week showed several disc bulges in his lower back, which will most likely require another surgery at some point in the future.

At first, the former prep All-American did not want to give up on his football career, and planned on mounting another comeback. That changed after talking his situation over with his treating physician and FSU trainer Randy Oravetz. After careful consideration, Heinz decided it was in his best interest to give up the game loves.

"I'm not going to play," Heinz told Warchant.com. "I was trying to hold on to it. You don't want to give up but after a while it becomes obvious. It's just time to call it quits."

The silver lining is that Heinz will still be on scholarship under the NCAA's medical hardship rule, which will allow him to continue his college education. Since he is medically unable to continue playing football his scholarship will not count against the 85 limit mandated by the NCAA.

"They going to take care of my school for five years," he said. "Even if you do get hurt, they are still going to take care of you."

Heinz is on pace to graduate with a degree in political science next spring. If all goes well, he might get a second undergraduate degree in economics. After that he plans on heading off to law school.

Prior to the onset of his back problems, Heinz was on the fast track earning a start against Georgia Tech in his redshirt freshman season. It looked he would challenge for the starting job last season, but that changed when his back problem was diagnosed.

Heinz becomes the eighth member of the 2001 recruiting class that had his FSU football career ended prematurely.

Eric Broe to apply for medical redshirt

Matt Heinz and Eric Broe have had a very similar careers at Florida State. Both were on pace to challenge for the starting job at tight guard last season, but that ended when both were sidelined by injuries. In Broe's case he has battled a nagging knee injury since last summer.

Despite undergoing surgery last year and aggressive rehabilitation his knee has not responded and he will have surgery again in two weeks.

"It's definitely been frustrating," Broe told Warchant.com. "I've been trying to work hard in rehab after each small setback and make a strong recovery so I can hopefully get on the field and be with my teammates again. That's the goal. I have to try to stay motivated since I have another year of rehab."

Whether it will be a one year absence or a permanent departure from football will depend on what the surgeons find when they get a closer look at his knee.

"Basically it depends on the size of my injury if I will play again or not," Broe said. "It's unclear from the MRI how big the damaged area is. They hope to do a bone or cartilage graft and if they can do that I will play again no problem, assuming everything heals properly. I should get a medical (redshirt) this year. He said that will be no problem."

Broe is hoping for the best, and assuming the damage is not too severe, is determined to continue his rehabilitation and hopefully return to the team in time for next season. He is also confident that a medical redshirt season will be granted, and if that is the case, he could return in 2005 with two more years of college eligibility.

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