Packers running backs Emanuel Wilson and Jarveon Howard discuss the leap from HBCUs to the NFL
Jul 21, 2024
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GREEN BAY − The Green Bay Packers shook up their running back room this offseason by releasing Aaron Jones and signing Josh Jacobs to a lucrative four-year, $48 million contract. The depth chart behind Jacobs, though, remains a mystery.
Among the candidates for the second- and third-string roles are veteran AJ Dillon, rookie third-round draft pick MarShawn Lloyd, and second-year back Ellis Merriweather. Running backs Emanuel Wilson and Jarveon Howard, who also are vying for spots on the 53-man roster and the practice squad, share a unique connection: they are the only Packers hailing from a Historically Black College and University.
Coming out of high school, Wilson attended Johnson C. Smith University, a private HBCU in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. After just one season, he transferred to Fort Valley State University in Georgia.
Wilson recorded video game-esque numbers with the Wildcats. Over his two-year career, he averaged 130.4 rushing yards per game on 6.3 yards per carry. In just 16 games, he racked up 2,087 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. He was also active in the passing game, catching 31 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite carrying the team on his back, Wilson went unselected in the 2023 NFL draft.
“Coming from a Division II school, we’re always counted out,” Wilson said. “HBCU players are still counted out. Being counted out, it put a big chip on my shoulder.”
Following a short stint with the Denver Broncos, Wilson was picked up by the Packers as a free agent last May. He made the most of the opportunity in the preseason as he led the team with 223 rushing yards and two touchdowns in three games. He eventually made the 53-man roster and played sporadically throughout the first 10 weeks of the season before suffering a shoulder injury. He returned just in time for the playoffs, when he had 12 carries for 36 yards and two first downs. In perhaps the biggest highlight of his young career, Wilson hurdled 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward for a first down in the fourth quarter against San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoff game.
Wilson, who turned 25 a month ago, already has become a mentor for Howard.
“Oh yeah, that’s my guy, that’s my guy,” Wilson said. “I tell him to come in and just be yourself. That’s what I had to learn last year. Be you on the field.”
The Packers signed Howard as an undrafted free agent from Alcorn State, a public HBCU about 90 minutes southwest of Jackson, Mississippi. The rookie running back is soaking up all the information he can from Wilson.
“He knows, coming from an HBCU, he knows exactly how this thing roll,” Howard said.
“He told me, ‘Don’t feel bad about not knowing anything right now. Everybody in this room, they came into this business not knowing anything. It’s some guys right now who’ve been here a year or so and still don’t know.’
“Taking information from him just made my mind grow. He’s not letting me go out and make mental errors and he’s keeping me sharp, regardless if I’m in or not.”
Before Alcorn State, Howard — a three-star high school recruit from Columbia, Mississippi — played at Syracuse. He spent three seasons with the Orange before transferring to Alcorn for his last two years of eligibility.
Like Wilson, Howard ran all over opposing defenses in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a Division I HBCU league in the FCS. He was recognized as the SWAC Newcomer of the Year in 2022 as he rushed for 1,275 yards and 12 touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry. The next season, Alcorn slashed Howard’s carries by nearly 100 attempts. Still, he gained nearly 750 yards with seven touchdowns in 11 games.
Howard replaced some of his previous production on the ground through an increased workload as a pass-catcher. He caught 29 balls for 184 yards in 2023, as opposed to just eight catches for 41 yards the year prior.
After the season, Howard participated in the HBCU Combine, which provides a space specifically for HBCU athletes to garner attention from NFL scouts. Howard dazzled among the running backs, leading in the broad jump, the vertical jump and the 10-yard split. Even at 215 pounds, he ran the fastest 40-yard dash in his position group. His 4.52-second time was better than some drafted backs, including the Los Angeles Rams’ Blake Corum (4.53), Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving (4.55), and Denver’s Audric Estime (4.71).
Just like Wilson, though, Howard did not hear his name called in the 2024 NFL draft. However, the lack of recognition doesn’t bother him.
“I got a chip on my shoulder, but I already had it, I already knew where I stood in the business,” Howard said. “I knew I had to come in and grind, regardless of where I stood. It was only eight running backs drafted from like, what, 200 of us? I’m extremely blessed to get this opportunity, so I wasn’t mad about anything. I’m just thankful that the Packers gave me the opportunity to come in and do my thing.”
After the “last day of school,” as coach Matt LaFleur put it, Wilson and Howard are planning to take a few days off to rest their bodies. Their minds, though, will remain focused on football.
“You can’t get out of the books,” Howard said. “I’ll kick my feet up, that’s gonna be the fundamental part, but for the mental, you gotta stay in the books. Like my coach told me, it’s like studying for an exam, so I gotta come back sharp.”