Scott Howley, son of former NFL player Chuck Howley, poses with his father's bust during his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
As years passed following his 1973 retirement, Chuck Howley and his family continued to deal with disappointment. One of the cornerstones of a championship Dallas Cowboys team and one of the best linebackers of his era, Howley’s name stayed off the list of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees.
That disappointment finally came to an end this past August, when the Warwood native and West Virginia University multi-sport legend was inducted in Canton, Ohio, 50 years following his final season.
Howley’s son, Scott, represented him during that induction ceremony. Chuck Howley has dealt with dementia for years and was not in Canton for the event. Scott Howley told the crowd before him that his father wasn’t just a hall of fame player, but a hall of fame person.
“His legacy extends far beyond the records he set or the awards he earned,” Scott Howley said during his induction speech. “It lies in the hearts of all who have had the privilege of knowing him as a player, a father or a friend.”
After starring at Warwood High School, Howley went enrolled at West Virginia University, lettering in five sports – football, track, wrestling, gymnastics and diving. He was both an all-Southern Conference football player and the conference champion in the 1-meter springboard.
Following WVU, Howley was drafted seventh overall by the Chicago Bears in 1958, but a knee injury looked like it would cut his pro career short after just two seasons. Howley returned to Wheeling to run a gas station in the Fulton neighborhood, but he decided to give the NFL another shot in 1961, and the Dallas Cowboys traded for him.
Howley spent 13 years proving that was a wise decision. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro and two-time second-teamer, a six-time Pro Bowler and remains the only player from a losing Super Bowl team ever to win the MVP award. That came in Super Bowl V and the Cowboys came back to win Super Bowl VI the next year.
Locally, Howley’s relatives successfully spurred Wheeling City Council to name the athletic field at Garden Park after Howley. Those relatives remember more than just his athletic exploits. They remember him bringing a jersey home from the East-West Shrine Game for a sick cousin, and scouring the rest of the East roster to find one that would fit him. They remember him walking down to his aunt’s house to take down a dead tree. He did so – by simply pushing it over with his bare hands.
This past August’s Hall of Fame induction was an opportunity to remember not just Howley’s professional accolades, but the kind of person he was – one who loved his family and hometown and someone who overcame odds to become immortalized in Canton.
“It’s the willingness to persevere and to push through every part of life, and to go for it,” Howley’s cousin Sally Beatty said. “I don’t mean just in football. There’s swimming and music, it can be in anything. If you work hard and persevere, and you really push for what you want, you can achieve it. There’s just a lot, a lot to his life that you can get out of it.”
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