Sports

Cann’s Corner: RIP Mike Heimerdinger

Since making a move to writing columns, news, features and special projects after being the Jets beat writer since 1993, this blog is a place for me to offer opinions, observations and musings about the people and topics I’m privileged to cover for The Post.

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My first thought on this gray Saturday is profound sadness upon hearing about former Jets offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger losing his year-long battle with cancer at age 58.

Heimerdinger, who served in the coordinator role for Herman Edwards in 2005, was a terrific, personable man and one of my favorite assistant coaches of all time to cover because of his honesty and sense of humor.

Heimerdinger, a fantastic offensive mind, was undermined in ’05 when the Jets lost their top two quarterbacks, Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler, in the same game early in the season and the team ended up using five quarterbacks in all during the year. Through it all, Heimerdinger never lost his sense of humor.

I remember when, after Edwards and the Jets parted ways following the ’05 season, newly-hired Jets coach Eric Mangini and team management didn’t allow Heimerdinger (who was still under contract) to seek other employment opportunities even though it was clear Mangini wasn’t going to retain him.

I was so outraged at the situation I wrote a column about it, ripping the Jets for holding “Dinger’ (as he was affectionately known to most everyone) “hostage.’’

Our creative editors at The Post used a photograph of Dinger with the column and super-imposed some prison cell bars over it.

I got a call the next day from Dinger and his wife thanking me for the column and praising The Post, asking me if I could send some extra copies to their home, which I did.

I never spoke to Dinger after he left the Jets to rejoin his former college roommate and friend, Mike Shanahan, in Denver before going to the Titans to be their offensive coordinator.

When I learned Dinger was battling cancer, I got his new number and vowed to myself to call him. Having been a recent survivor of cancer, I hoped to be able to help him in any way I could and perhaps raise his spirits letting him know how lucky I had been to get through my battle.

I put calling him off a few times figuring I should give him time to cope with the diagnosis and I let it get away and never made that call. That made the horrible feeling in my heart much heavier this morning when I saw the news of his passing.

Everyone who worked with or for Dinger or was simply an acquaintance will miss him dearly. Forever sorry I never made that call, I’ll be one of those people.

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As I’m readying myself to cover the Jets-Ravens game tomorrow in Baltimore, I see this as both a difficult game for the Jets to win but a critical one for them to win.

When the Jets began this three-game stretch of road games, the one they definitely figured on winning was last week’s game in Oakland. But the Raiders sabotaged that theory.

Now, after the Jets face a Ravens team that ripped the Rams last week, they have a date with the Patriots in New England next Sunday.

Suddenly, a season that began 2-0 and was expected to get to 3-0, looks like it can get to 2-3 in a hurry. That’s why the Jets need to steal this one from the Ravens tomorrow, which they can _ as long as their defense remembers who it was before Oakland, which is the hardest-working unit in the game, and Mark Sanchez doesn’t turn the ball over.