Born in San Antonio, Texas, Howey spent several years of his early childhood living on boats with his parents. They eventually settled in a Los Angeles suburb where he attended junior high and most of high school. After moving to Denver to complete his senior year, he earned a basketball scholarship to a junior college in Colorado. He began to lose interest in basketball in his second year and turned, instead, to drama, joining his father's (acting coach Bill Howey) acting class. Reba marks his first series starring role. He has previously guest-starred on shows including "ER" (1994) and "The Drew Carey Show" (1995). He also starred in and produced the independent film Class (1998), which was written and directed by his father and was accepted into the Denver International Film Festival. Howey currently lives in Los Angeles.