The story of Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard is barely a few chapters in. Yet it's becoming impossible to put down. Here is a young man born in Gardendale, Alabama. A kid who was tragically humbled at an early age by the death of his father, Reginald Howard following a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. This after losing his grandfather and grandmother shortly before that. Since then Jordan has worn a T-shirt with his fathers' photo on it for every game he's played.
His battle against fate didn't end there though. After earning just a two-star grade coming out of high school, Jordan endured something no college athlete should have to. The demise of the program that recruited. That's exactly what happened to the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Their football division was disbanded, leaving Howard with a very uncertain future.
Undaunted he transferred to Indiana where he played well enough to become a fifth round draft pick of the Bears last April. Experts said it was a good pick. That he could become a solid rotational back and maybe even starter down the road. A few months later he's appearing in his first Pro Bowl after finishing second in the NFL with 1,313 rushing yards. He actually finished as the game's leading rusher.
It gets better though.
Through all that time he continued to champion the fight against the disease that killed his father. Turns out that Howard isn't reserved to just that fight though. When given the opportunity, he wasn't afraid to show his mind was open to other progressive ideas. Jeremy Brener, a writer for Outsports which covers LGBT athletes, was at the Pro Bowl recently. He asked several players their thoughts about having a gay teammate.
Howard was among those players. His answered was fairly succinct.
“I’m pretty sure we would be supportive. We’ve been bonding together and that wouldn’t change anything too much.”This is remarkable open-mindedness for Howard considering where Howard comes from. Remember he grew up in Alabama. The Deep South has always been an area rife with tension in regards to race and sexual orientation. Much the same goes for large parts of Indiana. So for him to emerge from that with such accepting views is pretty remarkable. It also reinforces how great it is he's wearing a Bears uniform. It's exactly the kind of player who should represent Chicago. [video width="854" height="480" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Jordan-Howards-3-TD-Day-Week-13-Highlights-49ers-vs.-Bears-NFL.mp4"][/video] Especially in these turbulent times. There really isn't a lot of welcoming news of late. More than ever Bears fans will be looking for a retreat to some sort of safe haven. One can expect NFL Sundays to play a huge part in that. As the team continues striving to pull itself out of a large hole, they finally have a man who can lead the way. It seems so fitting that it's another running back from the south who seems to transcend where he came from. Jordan Howard has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as Walter Payton, but it's nice to know he embodies that same spirit.
