Players’ work ethic has to be different to make it to the NFL. It seems that new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard has a special work ethic.
Speaking to Devin Jackson of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard’s mother, Maureen, says he wanted to go to work right away when he was drafted on Saturday. The Steelers coaches gave him the weekend off, but Howard was already at work that Monday.
“On Sunday, Howard reached out to Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth for plays, according to his mother, much to the delight of the Steelers coaching staff,” Jackson wrote. ”[Arth] wrote [Howard] back and said, ‘Hey, we were going to give you the weekend off, but this is why we drafted you, because it’s the kind of worker you are,
Howard’s intangibles were one of the reasons the Steelers were drawn to him. Those intangibles immediately stuck out, especially as Howard played the best football of his entire career in the postseason.
“I think like a lot of people, how he responded to that adversity at the end of their regular season and the leadership and play making that he displayed throughout the Playoffs was really attractive. It’s really what NFL football is about. There’s going to be some adversity. How you respond to it defines you and your football team, particularly from the quarterback position,” head coach Mike Tomlin said.
Howard’s work ethic is reminiscent of Najee Harris, who was so obsessive in the film room during the rookie season that coaches had to tell him to go home.
That already has Howard in the good graces of Arth and the coaching staff. Not all players want to get to work right away like that.
Howard transferred into Columbus from Kansas State, where he was a multiple-year starter. During his season, the Buckeyes were an up-and-down offense, but became an elite unit once Howard’s play took a significant leap in the College Football Playoff.
This season, Howard threw for 4010 passing yards, a career-high. With that, he posted a 73 percent completion percentage, another career-high mark. Howard had 35 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
