Jeff Heath (American football)

Early years

Heath attended Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan. His father Mike, played semi-pro football and serves as an assistant football coach at Lake Orion. Heath was selected as the Big Play Player of the Year for kicking a game-winning 49 yard field goal to give Lake Orion a playoff victory and regional title over Sterling Heights Stevenson. The team would advance to the Michigan Division 1 state championship game in 2008 before falling to Rockford High School. He started as a defensive back and was voted team captain his senior year.

College career

Heath played college football at Saginaw Valley State University, a NCAA Division II program and a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Heath was not heavily recruited out of high school, and was only offered a partial scholarship with SVSU.

As a sophomore, he appeared in 8 games (7 starts), tallying 49 tackles (3.5 for loss), one interception and 2 fumble recoveries. The next year, he started all 11 games, registering 81 tackles (9 for loss), one sack, 3 passes defended, one interception, also forced and recovered one fumble.

As a senior, he started all games, recording 77 tackles (3 for loss), 5 interceptions, 7 passes defended, one forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries. He finished his college career after starting 30-of-35 games, posting 219 tackles (16.5 for loss), 7 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries.

Pre-draft

At his pro day, Heath ran a 4.40 40-yard dash, bench pressed 225 pounds 22 times, and had a 37-inch vertical leap.

(* represents GLIAC Pro Day March 11, 2013)

Dallas Cowboys

On April 27, 2013, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, a team that scouted him in college and that was the first one to contact him following the 2013 NFL draft.

2013 NFL season

During the preseason, Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News proclaimed Heath could be the Cowboys next sleeper college gem. He was eventually named to the Cowboys 53 man roster as a reserve safety and special teams player.

Heath made his first NFL start on October 27, 2013 at free safety against his hometown Detroit Lions. He started in place of injured starter J.J. Wilcox and finished the game with 9 tackles and a forced fumble. In that game, he also was part of a highlight reel reception, when he lost a jump ball to Calvin Johnson. The next two games proved difficult, with Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson running over him for a touchdown and being beaten for three touchdowns while playing against the New Orleans Saints. After Wilcox returned from injury, he remained the starter after proving to be a more reliable and productive player. He finished the season with 9 starts, 60 tackles (sixth on the team), 6 passes defended (tied for fourth) and 13 special teams tackles (led the team).

2014 NFL season

In 2014, he broke his thumb in the eleventh game against the New York Giants, at the time he was the team's special teams leading tackler (he finished fourth with 8 tackles) and was among the leading Pro Bowl vote-getters for special teams. In the playoffs, he made a key pass deflection on a two-point conversion against the Green Bay Packers and replaced Barry Church in the starting lineup after he was injured in the second half.

2015 NFL season

On special teams he tied for the team lead in tackles (9) with Kyle Wilber and Damien Wilson. He also ran a fake punt against the Buffalo Bills

On defense, he improved his coverage in passing situations. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he had 2 crucial interceptions to keep the Cowboys in the game but was called for a holding penalty with 59 seconds to play, that invalidated a fumble at the goal line and gave the Buccaneers a chance to score the winning touchdown.

During the week 8 game against the Seattle Seahawks, Heath was involved in a violent collision with Seahawks player Ricardo Lockette. Heath – blocking for a Cowboys punt return – hit him with a block that Lockette didn't see coming. Heath drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. While reviewing the game for Fox Sports, former NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira stated that the hit was clean and no penalty should have been called. "I was just praying that he was OK," Heath said. "Scary because we're football players, and there's collisions and stuff like that. But we're also men, fathers, sons. You never want to see a guy injured. Those are really scary injuries – the head injuries. I felt terrible that he was injured like that." Lockette ultimately retired following the injury.

2016 NFL season

Heath played in all 16 games for the Cowboys as a reserve safety, backing up Byron Jones, Barry Church, and J.J. Wilcox. He finished the season with 16 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 passes defensed. Heath also had 2 tackles and an interception in the Cowboys playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers. Heath tied for the team lead in special teams tackles with 7, along with Byron Jones and Kyle Wilber.

2017 NFL season

Heath entered the 2017 season as the starter at strong safety for the Cowboys after the departure of Barry Church.