The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Rising NFL Star Jordan Howard Remembers His Roots
10/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Hard work and talent got Jordan Howard to the NFL. UAB also had a hand in the sturdy running back achieving his dream.
“I’m just grateful that I was blessed with the opportunity to play college football,” the 6-foot-, 220-pound Howard said last week while preparing for his sixth NFL game as a member of the Chicago Bears. “People know that UAB was my only offer coming out of high school, so that’s big to me. Without that offer, I might not be in the position I’m in right now.”
The position he’s in now is the starting running back for the Bears. He not only rocketed up the depth chart, joining the starting lineup in the fourth week, but he’s thriving. He rushed for 111 yards and 118 yards in his first two starts. The 100-yard streak was busted on Sunday when Howard was limited to 34 yards on 15 carries in a 17-16 loss to visiting Jacksonville, but he did score a touchdown against the Jaguars, marking the second consecutive game that he reached the end zone.
Overall, he’s gained 330 yards on 66 carries and he’s added 128 yards on 14 receptions. He’s scored one rushing touchdown and another through the air.
“It’s all pretty good,” said Howard, who didn’t play in the team’s opener and sparingly the next two weeks. “I started off pretty slow, not getting into the game until late. Now I ‘m playing a lot, it’s just been a great experience.”
That doesn’t mean it’s sunk in yet for the Gardendale High product.
“It’s still surreal,” Howard said. “I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life. For this to finally be happening, it’s a blessing.”
Howard’s story is well known around here. Former UAB head coach Garrick McGee and his staff were the only Football Bowl Subdivision staff to offer Howard a scholarship. He rushed for 881 yards on 145 carries with two touchdowns as a true freshman and flourished under Bill Clark and his staff the following season. Howard carried the ball 306 times for 1,587 with 13 touchdowns as a sophomore, setting a single-season school record in all three of those categories.
He credited Clark and his staff with helping him become a better player.
“They meant a lot to me as a player,” Howard said. “They helped me improve tremendously from my freshman year to my sophomore year. They put the ball in my hands a lot because they trusted that I’d do the right things with the ball.”
Howard played his junior season at Indiana, rushing for 1,213 yards with nine touchdowns in nine games, before opting to enter the NFL draft. The Bears selected him in the fifth round and he began the season behind Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey on the running back depth chart. Howard moved up a spot when Carey was struggling with a hamstring injury and moved to the top of the depth chart when Langford went out with an ankle injury.
Howard took advantage of his opportunity. He rushed for 111 yards in his first start against Detroit and had 118 yards rushing and the go-ahead 21-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter against Indianapolis in a game eventually won by the Colts.
Pardon the pun but Howard said he’s had no problems staying grounded, even though his NFL career is starting with a bang. He knows that hard work got him to this level and is willing to keep working. He did have to adjust, however, to one thing.
“It’s a lot different, especially from a business aspect,” Howard said of playing professionally. “People can be here one day and gone the next. The game is a lot more complex and a lot faster. You have to prepare and work on your technique.”
Ask him about the early success, however, and he quickly mentions former Chicago Bears running back standouts Walter Payton, Gale Sayers and Matt Forte. He talks about all the Bear running back striving to continue the tradition of great ball carriers in Chicago.
However, he still goes to work every day with a large piece of UAB in his heart and on his wrist.
“I had to get another one,” Howard said of the UAB bracelet he wore on his wrist in his lone college season at Indiana and continues to wear today. “The one I had before broke but my mom got me another one from UAB. I still wear that. I just feel like you need to think about where you came from and where you get your start at. I want to keep representing UAB.”
(Photo Credit: Chicago Bears)
