Some of the greatest stories in sports history have been forged by the sting of rejection. Players who carry a chip on their shoulder and use it to fuel them to success often end up the greatest competitors. Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Richard Sherman, James Harrison and Geno Atkins come to mind as a handful of examples. Will Howard, who was just drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, is on a mission to prove everybody wrong.
“I feel like my whole career I’ve been overlooked,” Howard said via Hey Rookie on ESPN2. “I didn’t have an offer from Pitt. I didn’t have an offer from Syracuse. I didn’t have an offer from Boston College, Penn State, Duke, [North] Carolina. None of these schools offered me. I was trying for years, and I went to Kansas State and I said, ‘I wanna prove those people wrong.’ I hope Penn State looks back and said, ‘Man, we missed out on Will Howard.'”
Howard was a three-star recruit, but he did not get offers from any of the major programs he had his eyes on. He ended up playing at K-State for four seasons where he steadily improved. He fentered the transfer portal in 2024 with the hopes to compete for a national championship.
He went to Ohio State, and while it wasn’t smooth sailing the entire season, he accomplished his goal and had earned the title of a national championship-winning quarterback by the end of the season. He led the Big Ten with 4,010 passing yards, 35 TDs, 10 INTs and an impressive 73.0 completion percentage.
That same underdog mentality that powered him to a national championship despite a tumultuous season is something he plans on bringing to Pittsburgh.
“When I get to the NFL, I don’t want you guys to miss out on me because every single team that picks a quarterback in front of me, I’m gonna make it my mission to make sure that they regret not picking me,” Howard said.
According to Howard’s mission, here are the teams that drafted other quarterbacks instead of him.
– Tennessee Titans: Cam Ward (R1:1)
– New York Giants: Jaxson Dart (R1:25)
– New Orleans Saints: Tyler Shough (R2:40)
– Seattle Seahawks: Jalen Milroe (R3:92)
– Cleveland Browns: Dillon Gabriel (R3:94)
– Cleveland Browns: Shedeur Sanders (R5:144)
– Philadelphia Eagles: Kyle McCord (R5:181)
Every team passed on Howard multiple times, and six teams took other quarterbacks over him, including the Browns taking two off the board before he was selected. In the end Howard was QB8, and he is going to use every ounce of that disrespect to power his career.
Just like Ben Roethlisberger owned the Browns after they passed on him in the draft, maybe Howard will get the chance to make them pay for the next decade or two.
As he told me at the NFL Combine in one of the best interviews I have ever been a part of, Howard wants to show teams he can be the “face of the franchise.”
