Will Howard's name has been circulating for the past few months in conversations regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers' future at the quarterback position.
But before this, he was an Ohio State Buckeye. And before that, he was a Kansas State Wildcat. His four years in Manhattan, KS, tend to get lost because of his overwhelming success at Ohio State in just one season. Howard talked about his time with the Wildcats in a recent interview with The Athletic. The story discussed the growth of NIL in collegiate sports and its impact on star athletes as they transition to the pros.
And well, Howard definitely had some choice words for the end of his Kansas State career.
"I was a naive kid. I didn’t know," Howard said in the interview. "The nature of myself, I didn’t want anything or need money. I said I was good. There was a lot of politics in the last year. There were games I was splitting time with him for no reason that I knew other than there was money going to him that wasn’t going to me.”
Howard believed the institution exploited him in the latter years of his career, fueling his move to Columbus, OH.
"Everything I did was on my own. They kind of took advantage of me and got me for cheap, so I decided to go somewhere else and make a little money," Howard said. "It’s different when you go to a school, and you’re the guy getting money. It’s amazing how differently you’re treated. It was the best decision I ever made."
Howard shuffled around the starting position for years, eventually losing his starting position to now-quarterback Avery Johnson. Despite Howard's career season and an honorable mention for the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, the program decided to lean toward the budding star in Johnson after his freshman campaign. Johnson finished his first year with 479 passing yards, 296 rushing yards, and 12 total touchdowns in eight games, capped off by a Bowl performance that turned many heads inside and outside Kansas State.
Since then, however, the two have gone in opposite directions. Howard won the 2025 title and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he's the frontrunner for the starting position next season. Meanwhile, Johnson has had decent seasons, but far below what many anticipated for him after such a promising first year.
However, he does have coach Collin Klein back on the sidelines to help elevate him back to the form that had many hyping him as the next conference star.
As for Howard, we'll see what Pittsburgh does in the NFL Draft in a few weeks.