Sports stands still for no one, not even a hard-luck Ohio State quarterback whose uncertain future just got more muddled.

It’s easy to feel sorry for Devin Brown, who has played the good soldier even while twice getting wounded on the field. The OSU sophomore QB competed against Kyle McCord for the starting job through fall camp and into the season before coach Ryan Day named McCord his permanent go-to guy entering Week 3.

Even then, the plan was for Brown to see action in goal line situations, but he injured an ankle on a run against Penn State and hit the shelf. After finally recovering and getting the Cotton Bowl start when McCord transferred, Brown sprained his other ankle against Missouri in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game.

So much for seeing what Brown could do when handed the keys. And now? More adversity. Ohio State dipped into the transfer portal Thursday to land Will Howard, a dual-threat quarterback who started 27 games for Kansas State and has one year of eligibility remaining.

Howard, 6 feet 5 and 232 pounds, threw for 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions over four seasons. He also ran for 921 yards and 19 touchdowns.

The Buckeyes needed a quarterback who could make things happen with his feet, and they got him. Anymore, keeping plays alive by scrambling from the pocket is a requirement more than an asset. Howard ran for 351 yards this season on a career-high 81 attempts for a 4.3 average. And this eye-opener: he has touchdown runs of 80, 71 and 70 yards over his career.

Brown is a better runner than McCord, but probably not as elusive as Howard, though it is hard to say for sure, given Brown’s small sample size. Regardless, given Howard’s experience it should be expected he owns the upper hand in the upcoming QB competition between him, Brown, freshman Lincoln Kienholz and incoming freshman Air Noland.

It is almost certain Day has not guaranteed Howard the starting job. After all, he made no promises to McCord after the junior went 11-1 this season. It would be a bad look, and recruiting suicide, for Day to rubber stamp a starting job to a transfer when he refused to do so for McCord.

Brown will get the benefit of an open competition, but unless Howard falls on his face – he did have a lower completion percentage this season than McCord, and at one point was benched in favor of a true freshman – you have to think the job is his come September. Brown won’t go down without a fight, but ultimately he likely loses by decision.

Aaron Rodgers’ mouth not worth the money

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is at it again, creating controversy. And getting paid to do so.

Rodgers, who has received more than $1 million for his weekly appearances on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” took his feud with ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel to the airwaves Tuesday when he connected Kimmel to what was the soon-to-be-released list of names tied to convicted sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who are really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said of the list’s expected release, which happened Wednesday.

Kimmel fired back on social media, writing, “For the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any ‘list’ other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”

Rodgers has been the butt of Kimmel jokes for being an outspoken anti-vaxxer, but while some may play the karma card against Kimmel, this was Rodgers taking things too far.

I’m all for athletes speaking up and speaking out, as long as they also are accountable for their words. There has never been any indication Kimmel’s name would appear in the Epstein documents.

McAfee apologized on air the day after Rodgers dropped his bomb, but the host somewhat played it off as Rodgers simply stirring things up.

My cynical take? ESPN is getting exactly what it wants from Rodgers – headlines.

Listening in

“I'm certainly taking accountability for my role in this. I’ve put myself in a lot of positions that have made things very hard for people, and I’m trying to be better.” – suspended MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer, telling Fox News he regrets being “reckless” with his actions connected to allegations of sexual assault and that he would love getting a second chance to pitch in the majors.

Off-topic

It doesn’t matter when or where, when I hear a vacuum cleaner my eyelids droop and my body begs for a place to plop down and sleep. This causes quite the dilemma when I am tasked with vacuuming the living room rug, but everyone has that one sound that instantly makes them want to doze off. A train whistle. Box fan. Rainfall. Mine just happens to get me out of doing housework.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football quarterback Devin Brown faces new competitor