As the first wave of NFL Free Agency crests and rolls back, things should begin to calm down as far as the frenzy we saw earlier in the week. Everyone is still hyper-focused on which players will land where, but there's news elsewhere that is a reminder that there's life after your playing days and that the football dream isn't confined to what's between the hashmarks.
That's what former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end and Super Bowl champion O.J. Howard is finding out.
Howard hasn't played a meaningful down of football since 2022, when he was with the Houston Texans, but he's nevertheless remained plugged into the game. Rather than charting a path forward as a free agent, Howard is happily retired from the NFL but isn't necessarily done with his career there.
This offseason saw Bill Belichick return to college and now Howard is doing the same in hopes of starting the next chapter of his career.
West Alabama hires Ex-Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard
Earlier this week, the University of Western Alabama announced that Howard was being hired as the school's new Director of Player Development.
"We're thrilled to welcome another Alabama Football legend and NFL Champion, O.J. Howard," the school said in a statement. "O.J. was an outstanding athlete at Alabama, earning a first-round NFL Draft selection, but what truly set him apart was his leadership. He is a leader of men, and that's exactly why he's the perfect fit for this role."
That statement came from West Alabama's head coach, Steve Cochran, who is reuniting with Howard after their days together with the Crimson Tide. It's a massive career move for Howard, one that could start him on a path to one day returning to the NFL.
Howard isn't the first former Buccaneers player to jump to a new career lane within football. Warren Sapp is currently trying to revive his career as part of Deion Sanders' coaching staff at Colorado, a role that could lead to him getting looks from NFL teams as he continues to develop his skills.
Coaching isn't what Howard is getting into, although player development is naturally adjacent. Instead, we could see him start down a path that takes him to a front office job, which might even bring him back to Tampa Bay.
Jason Licht has put together one of the best front offices in the league and has done so by identifying talent and giving them a chance to shine. We saw that pay off this offseason when John Spytek was hired to be the Raiders' new general manager, and Mke Greenberg drew interest from multiple teams for the same position.
Could Howard be given that sort of an opportunity within the Bucs' front office if he proves himself at West Alabama? Time will tell, but it's pretty cool to see him go from having a decent career in the NFL to setting himself up for an even better run as an future executive.
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