Steelers Rookie QB Victim Of NFL Draft Prank Call Outbreak

Several prospects were recipients of a prank call spree that plagued the 2025 NFL Draft, including Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard.

When the Steelers were on the clock with their 185th selection in the sixth round, Howard received his long-awaited call. But it wasn’t the first phone call that the 23-year-old answered, claiming the Ohio State product had officially been drafted. Howard, along with a handful of fellow rookies, including Shedeur Sanders and Abdul Carter, were also targets of prank calls — Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son called Sanders.

“I had gotten prank called a couple of times, so it was nice to actually have a real one,” Howard said, per team-provided video.

Howard’s patience was rewarded, although he admitted the wait was tedious. The Steelers made Howard their lone quarterback selection out of this year’s draft class, and it’s a landing spot Howard has since embraced with open arms. Howard held Pittsburgh in high regard, even before draft night, based on his meeting with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and other members of the organization’s brass at the combine in February.

“I had dinner with coach Tomlin and coach (Arthur) Smith and Omar (Khan) at pro day,” Howard said. “I had a formal with them at the combine and every time I interacted with them, it just felt like they were genuine people. Everything I’ve heard about this organization is that it’s a historic organization, and everyone that has come through here has nothing but good things to say about the people. Obviously, it’s my home state, close to home. I’m close to Columbus, (Ohio). There’s a lot of things to like about it and the team has a great tradition of winning.”

Pittsburgh’s No. 1 priority this offseason has been the free agency wait game with Aaron Rodgers. The front office allowed Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to walk away and brought Mason Rudolph back for a second stint, but coaches so far have found themselves impressed with Howard, too.

“Huddle command, communication, the ability to regurgitate new information,” Tomlin highlighted about Howard during rookie minicamp, per Sports Illustrated’s Noah Strackbein. “By new information, I mean information that’s new to them. And so I don’t want to underscore how difficult it is to receive some of the verbiage from a play caller and have to regurgitate it to 10 others that are waiting for it.”

Tomlin added: “He’s doing great. But again, we’re at the very beginning of it. I don’t know that we’re looking at it through that lens in terms of evaluating him. It’s more about getting to know him.”

Howard led the Buckeyes to a national championship victory over Notre Dame in January and was named the Offensive MVP.

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