Dismissed by Mizzou football team, Nate Howard ready for ‘fresh start’

Suspended junior defensive end Nate Howard has been dismissed from the Missouri football team.

Howard posted his farewell Thursday afternoon to “Mizzou Nation.”

“Once a Tigers Always a Tiger! farewell Mizzou Nation,” read Howard’s Twitter message shortly after 3 p.m.

Less than a half-hour later, a team spokesman confirmed that Howard had been “dismissed from the program.”

“Coach (Barry Odom) is going to help him find somewhere to get a fresh start,” Mizzou associate athletic director for strategic communications Chad Moller said in a text message to The Star.

Howard had been suspended indefinitely from the team for two months after he was arrested for alleged felony drug possession. He was arrested again Monday on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court after he received a $121 speeding ticket in Montgomery County, Mo., and didn’t pay the fine.

Reached by The Star, Howard vowed to “learn from my actions and mistakes and not repeat them” and seems determined to bounce back.

“The biggest thing is to get a fresh start and not let my past define me as well as becoming a better me,” Howard said in a message to The Star. “This will be the start of something special.”

He previously expressed remorse for his “carelessness and actions” on social media.

Howard was a first-string defensive end during spring practice and seemed poised to start for the Tigers after a knee injury limited him in 2016.

He was pulled over June 14 for expired tags and arrested for alleged possession of psilocybin mushrooms. Howard is scheduled to appear in Boone County court Aug 24 for a preliminary hearing on one count of possession of a controlled substance.

He was pulled over again Monday, this time for failing to stop at a posted stop sign, and arrested on the outstanding warrant.

Howard initially committed to Wisconsin from Ladue Horton Watkins High in St. Louis, but made a late decision to switch to Mizzou before signing day in 2015.

He appeared in 11 games as a freshman, totaling 12 tackles with two for a loss in a reserve role. Hampered by a knee injury, which cost him the first two months last season, Howard worked his way back into the rotation for the final four games in 2016. He finished with tackles and a half-sack in limited action as a sophomore.

This story was originally published August 17, 2017 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Dismissed by Mizzou football team, Nate Howard ready for ‘fresh start’."