Livescore
Shortly after winning a national championship inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Will Howard’s agent came up to him with big news. Dr. Pepper wanted to do an advertisement with him.
Even in the fog of cigar smoke and confetti, Howard had his answer ready: “Hell yeah, let’s do it.”
Howard wanted to do something with the ad-happy soda giant for years, dating back to enjoying a Dr. Pepper with a cigar after winning the Big 12 Championship with Kansas State in 2022.
The result is one of the most fascinating NIL ads you’ll ever see. The Ohio State quarterback breaks out a look made famous by Tiktok star The Rizzler — Howard says he was mostly going for something out of “Zoolander,” the popular Ben Stiller movie — as he poses and drinks Dr. Pepper.
The reactions to the ad posted on his Instagram have been hilarious.
“Thank god this was done after we won the natty…” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said.
Ohio State offensive lineman Luke Montgomery added, “You better have gotten paid a lot for this.”
It hasn’t just been his teammates and coaches weighing in on it, either. His sister, Tori, posted “Not sure what to say.”
“My family, my siblings are all giving me such a hard time. Couple of friends, too,” Howard told CBS Sports. “If you know me, you know that is something I would 100 percent do. It’s right up my alley. I had a blast with it…I think it’s absolutely hilarious. I think it turned out perfectly.”
The Dr. Pepper ad has quickly become very popular since Howard posted it on Friday. It’s the second viral video of the week that the Ohio State quarterback was involved in, the other also coming right after the national championship win over Notre Dame.
Howard was on what has since become an infamous cart ride intended to take him, Day, linebacker Cody Simon, athletic director Ross Bjork and others to a postgame interview room. Unfortunately for the Ohio State contingent, the driver quickly crashed the cart into a wall, got stuck and everyone had to get off and walk. The video clip, shared by AL.com’s Patrick Greenfield, has more than 15 million views on X alone.
Howard immediately starts laughing. Day, seated in the passenger seat upfront, doesn’t look nearly as amused. Howard, who says a “million people” have sent him the video, believes the contrasting reactions between head coach and quarterback stayed true to both of their personalities.
“I think that video perfectly summed our relationship and the dynamic is between us,” Howard said. “I’m the kind of guy who likes to takes things lightly and he’s very serious about just about everything. I’ve been giving him a hard time about that the last couple days. Every time I see him I ask him how his neck is feeling and what not. I think he got a little bit of whiplash.”
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