If there’s one thing people know about Will Howard, it’s that he won’t shy away from voicing his opinions. He’s been called arrogant, cocky and brash. And yet, he’s the quarterback that’s got the National Championship title. “[Every] single team that picks a quarterback in front of me, I’m going to make it my mission to make sure that they regret not picking me,” Howard said in a podcast recently. But underneath all that bravado, there’s still something to like about Howard’s character.
Howard comes from a close-knit family in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Family is special to him. “My support system always is my family. I lean on them for a ton of different stuff,” he told the media at a presser. In fact, he still holds on dearly to a special member who is, unfortunately, no longer with us. Howard’s game day ritual for the past three years has been listening to his departed grandmother’s voicemails. Without fail, he has tuned into those warm words twice before taking to the field.
Ann King, Howard’s grandmother, sent two short voicemails to her grandson to let him know she was thinking of him. “Hiya, Will. It’s Nana. Just want to wish you good luck. I’m rooting for you,” reads one of them. In the other, King said, “I just hope that everything works out well for you. Just go get ’em.” Even today, as he heads on to the draft, Howard looks to these messages for peace and support. And they still hit home, as he became emotional talking about how much they mean to him. “Yeah… choked me up,” he said, with teary eyes. “Gets me every time.” Howard lost his grandmother in 2022.
In the 2024 season, Howard told ESPN, “I listen to her voicemail, and it brought just this immense peace over me. This year, it was really for the playoffs, it actually probably got me going even more. I think it really helped.” It truly did. The playoff games were where Howard played the “best football of his career,” according to CBS Sports. Howard set a record in the title game for the most consecutive completions. He finished with 17-21 for 231 yards, and won the offensive MVP of the game.
Naturally, that success has instilled a sense of pride in him. “Draft me. Draft me, or you’ll regret it,” he declared in the same podcast. However, his turn is predicted to come much later in the draft, compared to other QBs in his class.
What does the draft look like for Will Howard?
The star QB is an elite prospect, but he also has some similar contemporaries in the draft. They could match him for his might. Unlike the hopes he has for himself, he is predicted to go as Pick 123 to the Steelers. But we know that the front office here is linked closely to Shedeur Sanders, and Alabama’s explosive star, Jalen Milroe. Jaxson Dart is also in the mix. Howard, on the other hand, will have to fight off this competition to get here.
Will Howard’s numbers and the chatter around him do not quite match up. Jon Gruden thinks he should be the No. 1 QB, and that Howard seems to resemble Josh Allen. It does allow skeptics to think, is Howard truly a star player through and through? Or was it the whole dynamic and everything else at a different program that enabled him to perform so well? Analyst Jordan Reid ranks him as the 8th-best QB in the draft. “Many of Howard’s warts show up when defenses speed up his processing.” Howard has had some humbling games, which the QB should take stock of.
Howard, like all other QBs in the draft save for Cam Ward, will be an interesting storyline in the draft. As he advances to the next chapter of his life, he’ll still lean on his family for the support and calmness he needs at this crucial stage.
The post Will Howard Fights Back Tears Before NFL Draft as OSU QB Remembers Late Family Member in Heartfelt Confession appeared first on EssentiallySports.
