OU linebacker petitions court for fourth year of eligibility promised under NCAA rules - McAfee & Taft

NORMAN CITY, Okla., March 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of McAfee & Taft today announced that University of Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke has petitioned the Cleveland County District Court in Norman, Oklahoma, to restore what should be his fourth season of college football eligibility, which is the same number of seasons the NCAA grants to every other college athlete under its bylaws.

In December 2025, OU submitted a nearly 200-page application detailing why Heinecke qualifies for a waiver under the NCAA's own bylaws. In a one-paragraph decision issued earlier this year, the NCAA denied Owen's request for an additional year of eligibility and upheld its own decision on appeal.

Heinecke, a native Oklahoman and former walk-on, is asking the court to allow him to compete for OU during the 2026-2027 football season, while completing his master's degree in accounting.

"As a kid from Oklahoma, playing football at OU has always been a dream," said Heinecke. "OU has fought for me, and I want to fight for them. I've been loyal to this program, and our team still has more to achieve. All we're asking for is the same fourth season other athletes receive under NCAA rules."

A lifetime of work threatened by 15 minutes
The NCAA's denial rests almost entirely on 15 minutes that Heinecke spent on a lacrosse field at The Ohio State University. That's less time than most people spend waiting in the drive through line at Starbucks on a busy Saturday morning, yet the NCAA is treating those 15 minutes as a full season of competition. OU and Heinecke contend those few minutes should not eliminate his chance to play a fourth football season, especially when NCAA rules expressly provide athletes four seasons of opportunity.

A "program guy" with unfinished business
Heinecke has played all three seasons of his college football career at OU: 2023-2024; 2024-2025; and 2025-2026. He is seeking the standard fourth year.

The petition states that a combination of COVID-19 disruptions, delayed walk-on procedures, and a pair of knee surgeries prevented Heinecke from competing in football during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. According to the petition, these are facts the NCAA chose not to fully consider in denying his eligibility. It further notes the NCAA has inconsistently applied its own waiver criteria compared with similarly situated athletes, despite bylaws designed to ensure fairness and preserve four-season participation opportunities.

"Owen Heinecke is exactly the kind of student athlete the NCAA should be championing, not sidelining," said Mary Quinn Cooper lead counsel for Heinecke. "The NCAA's refusal to fairly consider the totality of Owen's circumstances violates the spirit and letter of its own bylaws and flies against its previous decisions for other student-athletes."

The matter is time sensitive. OU's spring game is April 18, and the NFL Draft begins April 23. Heinecke is seeking a prompt decision so he can either join his teammates for a fourth season at OU or focus on his professional future.

Media contact: Robin Croninger, Chief Marketing Officer, at [email protected]

SOURCE McAfee & Taft