Fort Worth’s Skyler Howard lands free agent deal with Seahawks

There has always been a reason why Skyler Howard couldn’t do it and wouldn’t make it in football.

He just wasn’t listening to them. And now look where that hard-headedness has gotten him.

It appears to have gotten him to the doorstep of his NFL dream, as multiple outlets are reporting that Howard signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks shortly after the 2017 NFL Draft.

In a phone interview in March, Paul Sharr, Howard’s high school coach at White Settlement Brewer, said multiple college coaches told him Howard didn’t pass ‘the eye test’ for a scholarship when he tried to convince them of Howard’s value as a recruit. The detractors have always been there, and probably always will be.

Fellow West Virginia product and ex-Seattle Seahawk linebacker Bruce Irvin tweeted during the Mountaineers’ 31-14 loss to Miami in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl, “lol we playing wit a NAIA qb.”

Howard did not receive any football scholarship offers after graduating early from Brewer in 2013. He walked on at Stephen F. Austin before finding his way to junior college ball before ultimately catching on and becoming the two-year starter at West Virginia.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has reportedly taken a shine to Howard’s ability to throw the deep ball.

“He’s a mad bomber, man. He threw a ton of deep balls. He goes downtown,” Carroll told the Tacoma News Tribune. “A real resourceful kid, active on the field. Moves around well, but man can be bomb it.”

Howard threw 52 touchdown passes and ran for 16 more in his two years as the Mountaineers’ QB1. He threw just 10 interceptions his senior season and led West Virginia to its first 10-win season since 2011.

Howard and fellow 2017 undrafted free agent signee Jake Heaps will compete with Trevone Boykin for the right to back up Russell Wilson.

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 12:29 AM with the headline "Fort Worth’s Skyler Howard lands free agent deal with Seahawks."