"I was out for three weeks not doing anything – not lifting, not running. I've never done anything like that before in my life where I've taken that long of a time off," he said. "That was hard for me. I wanted to push it, but I couldn't push it, and so it was tough for me just to sit there and do nothing."

Heckendorf's body was wracked with fever. With night sweats, headaches, and a stiff neck, the doctors initially thought that maybe he had spinal meningitis, which can result in hearing loss, vision loss, and even brain damage. He lost between 10 and 15 pounds.

"Getting back up to school, Coach (Jim) Kramer right away tried taking it easy and I just wanted to keep pushing and pushing and I think he was a little worried about me," Heckendorf said. But with other receivers on the team injured, fate led Bison coaches to use Heckendorf during preseason practice more than they might have wished. The repetitions and hard work were a blessing, Heckendorf said. "It was good and bad at the same time," he said. "It was a real tiring camp, probably the worst one I've had, but I think that has really helped me to get back into the shape I am."

When Heckendorf stepped onto the field to play Austin Peay State University for the season opener, it was like his heart never skipped a beat. Heckendorf pulled down eight passes from Bison quarterback Nick Mertens for 179 yards and three touchdowns to lead the team to a 41-6 victory over the Governors.

And Heckendorf's condition? "It really isn't a concern anymore," he said.

Heckendorf credits his family for helping him to stay focused. After Kole's outstanding season opener, his brother Keith, who played quarterback for St. Cloud State University, quickly moved past the postgame celebration to ask Kole about a penalty he had caused during the game.

"He didn't care about my stats," Kole laughed. "He wanted to see how I felt and we talked about what I could work on to get better next week." Kole's father has been a big support, as well; Bart Heckendorf played wide receiver at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. "They have just been through everything with me," Heckendorf said. "They have taught me how to become a person, a receiver, and how to respect the game." Kole's brother, Kyle, is a collegiate athlete, too, having played baseball for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Kole also credits his success to his mother, Wendy, who has been a physical education teacher and track coach. She was a cheerleader at UW LaCrosse when she met Bart. "She might not know too much about football," he said, "but she's a competitor, too. She lived with four guys and so she's pretty tough on us, but she has been just a great inspiration to me growing up and even today. She has come to all of my games and has just been there for me when things are going good and when things are going bad."

When he's not at home or with family, Heckendorf said the Bison football team fills the void. "As a football team, you're close to a lot of your guys," he said. "This whole Bison program, we're a family, and the receivers and quarterbacks, we spend most of our time together and so we're really getting close. On the days we don't have football, we hang out and go out to eat and stuff like that. It's just a big family we got going here being a Bison."

Heckendorf said that being from Wisconsin, he enjoys the natural rivalry between himself— growing up as a Green Bay Packers fan—and his teammates who are Minnesota Vikings fans. He said the team had practice during the Vikings-Packers season opener on Monday Night Football and during practice, their NFL team loyalties led to ribbing. "We were giving each other a lot of crap," Heckendorf said. "I just think that's real fun."

Heckendorf broke Travis White's record 164 career receptions this year. Heckendorf got his start in 2005 due to White's season-ending knee injury. "I just talked to Travis the other day," Heckendorf said. "We're still really good friends. He's just a great guy. Travis was a huge help for me. He helped me every game—different things here and there—and he is just a great friend, a great guy."

Heckendorf said the potential record wasn't a distraction for him. "I'm not really looking at that at all," he said. "We're here to win the game. If I have to catch one ball to win the game or 10 balls to win the game, I'm happy with it either way. If I do catch him—that's great—but if I don't, it's not that big a deal. I'm just hoping we keep making a run here and make the playoffs and see what we can do."

Heckendorf said he would love to continue to play football after graduation. "I'm going to try whatever I can do," he said. "I'm going to try to stay healthy through the year and whatever happens—happens—at the end. The NFL is there, but there is a lot of other football out there with Arena (Football League) and Canadian (Football League) stuff and so, you never know. I'm going to give her all I've got and see where it takes me."

No matter what happens, Heckendorf can always go fishing. An avid outdoorsman, he said he has always wanted to go to Canada with his brother, Kyle, to fish for walleye. Knowing Kole, he'd probably pull in a big one.