Eric Howard: A Talent Lost To Crime and Drugs

Almost everyone who had seen Eric Howard play football would vouch for the talent he had for playing that sport. However, all everyone can say about this football player now, is that how his talent got wasted due to crime and drugs. Story of Eric is a lesson to all teenagers for the things they shouldn’t do, when facing hardships in their life.

Rise and Decline as a Football Player
Eric had a troubled childhood because of his father’s death in an industrial accident in 1999. Later, in the school days he found a mentor and friend in coach Hertler. Hertler brought a lot of disciplines into his life and encouraged him to play football. In 2008, Eric became “Mr. Football” for Ohio State for the first time, which was an excellent performance that was repeated by him in 2009. In both these years, he also became Stark County’s “Player of the Year.”

However, Eric’s life took a wrong turn in July 2009, when he missed the scholarship he needed, because he wasn’t able to get “B-Grade” in his American Sign Language Honors class. This forced him to move from playing for Ohio State to Akron. Most of the people who knew him suggested him otherwise and thought that he should have tried more before leaving Ohio State. However, Eric stood by his decision of playing for Fork Union, but he suffered from a knee injury that forced him to leave Fork Union.

Consequences of Injury and Influence of Drugs
Knee injury has a huge impact on Eric Howard’s life, as he started delaying the necessary knee surgery, his distance from the sport increased, and he started dealing drugs. It was regular and good money, and he started using all kinds of drugs. It was his introduction to the drugs business that led to his entry into the crime world.

It was in August 20, 2011 that he and his accomplice broke into the house of a couple and robbed them. They were arrested on October 4, 2011, and were convicted for the committed crime on February 2, 2012. Eric got a punishment of 30 years in prison, because he was found guilty of raping the girl on the day of the crime.

Introspecting in Jail
Now living in the jail Eric says that he has plenty of time to introspect on the decisions of his life. Prospect of getting released when he would be 50 years old makes him realize that he has wasted his talent and blames series of wrong choices he made injury, and drugs for it.