Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Sam Howell was born September 16, 2000, in Waynesville, North Carolina. He is a quarterback in the National Football League.

Howell entered his true freshman season at North Carolina competing with redshirt freshmen Jace Ruder and Cade Fortin for the starting quarterback position. Howell won the job in training camp, and became the first true freshman to start a season-opening game for the Tar Heels, opening his Tar Heel career against South Carolina. He passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-20 comeback victory over the Gamecocks in his debut. Against NC State, Howell threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns in a 41–10 victory. Howell had a successful true freshman campaign, completing 234 of 388 attempts for 3,347 yards with 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the regular season. In the Tar Heels' bowl game, he threw for 294 yards and three more touchdowns in the 55–13 win over Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl. Howell earned Military Bowl MVP for his performance, which also included a two-yard touchdown reception on a trick play. Howell's 38 touchdown passes on the 2019 season were single-season records both at Carolina and at the FBS level of competition for a true freshman quarterback. His yardage and touchdown totals were also the highest in the ACC for the 2019 season. At the conclusion of the season, Howell was named to the All-ACC third team. He was also named ACC Rookie of the Year and a freshman All-American. His 3,641 passing yards in 2019 rank second all-time in North Carolina history for a single season. Going into his second season as a Tar Heel, Howell received significant national attention. He was named to the Maxwell Award, Manning Award, and Davey O'Brien Award watch lists in the preseason. He started the season off slowly against Syracuse and Boston College, but set a career high for passing yards with 443 in the 44–41 loss against Virginia, earning ACC Player of the Week honors in the process. Two games later, against Wake Forest, he broke multiple school records, and set another career high for passing, in the Tar Heels' 59-53 comeback victory. 

Howell threw for 550 yards and 6 touchdowns, ran for another, and led the explosive Tar Heel offense to a school record 742 yards of total offense in the game. Howell also recorded his second career touchdown catch in the blowout 62–26 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. Both of Howell's touchdown receptions in his Tar Heel career were thrown by wide receiver Rontavius "Toe" Groves and came on adaptations of the famous Philly Special play. Howell's performance in the 2020 campaign put him in position to break several career records for the Tar Heels, and he earned Second team All-ACC honors in the process. In the Orange Bowl, Howell's three touchdown passes tied him with Darian Durant's mark of 68 career passing scores, the most in program history. His 2020 passing totals moved him to fifth all time in program history for passing yards at 7,227. Much like the preseason of his sophomore year, Howell received significant praise going into his junior campaign, being named to multiple award watchlists and garnering very early NFL draft speculation. Against Virginia Tech in the season opener, Howell threw his 69th touchdown pass, giving him sole possession of the school record for passing touchdowns in a Tar Heel career. He also threw 3 interceptions in North Carolina's 17–10 loss, the most interceptions in a single game of his collegiate career. Against Georgia State in week two, Howell threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 104 yards and two more scores, becoming the second quarterback in Tar Heel history to throw for 300+ yards and rush for 100+ yards in the same game (Marquise Williams was the first, against Notre Dame in 2014). The next week against Virginia, Howell threw for 307 yards, five touchdowns and an interception, while also rushing for 112 yards, becoming the second Power 5 quarterback to post back-to-back 300+ passing and 100+ rushing yard performances since 2004, joining Lamar Jackson. His performance against the Cavaliers moved him past Marquise Williams for fourth all-time in passing yards at the school, and into fourth in school history with 8,526 yards of total offense, passing Bryn Renner. In the Tar Heels upset loss against Georgia Tech, Howell threw for 306 more yards and two more scores, extending his passing touchdown record and passing Renner again, this time for third all-time in Tar Heel passing yards. Against Miami, Howell extended his all-time passing touchdown mark to 86, and added two more rushing touchdowns in the 45-42 Tar Heel victory, putting him only two total touchdowns behind Marquise Williams' school record of 99. Against Notre Dame, he threw for one score and ran in another, tying Williams' mark and, including his two career receiving touchdowns set a school record, being responsible for 101 touchdowns to that point in his college career. Howell threw two more touchdown passes in the Tar Heels' overtime loss to Pittsburgh, extending his school record to 90. However, on the last play of the game in overtime, he suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, causing him to miss the first game of his Tar Heel career against Wofford. Prior to the Wofford game, Howell was recognized along with twenty-one other Tar Heel players as part of the school's Senior Day festivities despite not having made a final decision whether or not to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2022 NFL Draft. He was replaced by backups Jacolby Criswell and Drake Maye, who threw for a combined 214 yards and one score in the 34-14 win. He made his return in the dramatic 34-30 loss to N.C. State, throwing for 147 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. He also had two rushing touchdowns in the game. He extended his passing touchdown record to 91, and his total touchdown record at Carolina to 108. With his performance, Howell became the first UNC quarterback to throw for 10,000 yards in a career and just the eighth ACC quarterback to reach the mark. After speculation that Howell would opt-out of the Duke's Mayo Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft, Howell denied the rumors in a tweet, signaling his intentions to play one more game. In his final start for the Tar Heels, Howell had 12 completions for 205 yards and a touchdown in the 38–21 loss to South Carolina. Howell threw his 92nd career touchdown pass in the game, extending his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass. He threw at least one touchdown in every game he started at quarterback while at UNC. Howell made the first and last starts of his career against the same team (South Carolina), in the same stadium (Bank of America Stadium). Following the season, Howell announced that he would forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2022 NFL Draft.

In the 2022 NFL Draft, Sam Howell was taken 144th by the Washington Commanders. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 6, 2022. Howell started the final game of the 2022 season after the team had been eliminated from playoff contention, completing 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown in a 26–6 upset win against the Dallas Cowboys.

Howell would remain the starting quarterback for the 2023 season after beating out Jacoby Brissett in the offseason.

Howell was traded to the Seattle Seahawks during the 2024 offseason.