Will Howard admits he held ill will against Penn State from recruiting over him

Will Howard admitted he held a bit of a grudge when it came to Penn State. It took five years, but Howard got his chance against the Nittany Lions when he played for Ohio State this past season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wanted to go to Penn State, was recruited by Penn State out of high school, but was ultimately passed over. With not many Power Five offers, and the Big Ten offers coming from the likes of Rutgers and Maryland, plus Ivy League schools like Yale, Howard ended up at Kansas State.

Following a successful tenure, he played his final season at Ohio State, beat Penn State and ended up winning a national title. Safe to say, Howard was waiting for that moment.

“I only had five Power Five offers coming out, I wasn’t like a super highly recruited guy,” Howard said on Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. “I felt like I should have been more highly recruited. I got my first offer after my sophomore year of high school. I got it from Rutgers, and I was like, okay, you know, now that maybe the flood gates will open and then I don’t get a bunch of more offers. And after that … it took a while. I think I got an offer from Yale, and then it took until, the problem is, my junior year, I got hurt … It was halfway through the year, I broke my arm, and so I was out for the year … and that was that kind of derailed my recruitment a little bit … 

“After that, I never heard from Penn State again. I went up and visited them … Always wanted to go to Penn State. My dad went there, you know, my sister goes there now, like I always wanted to go to Penn State. I was ‘We Are,’ blue and white, you know, till I die, kind of deal. And that was always my dream. When they stopped talking to me, they took a commit, Micah Bowens, who was like a dual threat guy from Bishop Gorman.”

Howard will play with Ohio State teammate Jack Sawyer in the NFL. The EDGE rusher was a fourth round selection by the Steelers in the 2025 NFL Draft.

“Will was like, a different guy,” Sawyer said. “Will’s an outgoing, joke around-type of guy. Then, you know, we come in there that Monday, it’s our off day, and I’m like, we’ve got Penn State this week and Will’s like this cut-throat (guy) the whole week … He wasn’t, he wasn’t in the mood for any of that (joking) that week.”

Howard admitted he’s a goofy guy but he was all business against the Nittany Lions. He finished the 20-13 win on the road 16-of-24 passing for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one interception as they overcame a 10-0 deficit to start the game.