| No. 50, 95 | |||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | (1972-02-27)February 27, 1972 (age 53) East St. Louis, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 238 lb (108 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | East St. Louis Senior | ||||||
| College: | Illinois (1990–1994) | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 1995: 5th round, 168th pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Dana Cortez Howard (born February 27, 1972) is an American former professionalfootballlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theSt. Louis Rams and theChicago Bears. He playedcollege football for theIllinois Fighting Illini and was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the1995 NFL draft.
Howard was born inEast St. Louis, Illinois. He had an inauspicious beginning in football, being cut by his head coach in junior high.
He attendedEast St. Louis High School,[1] where he played bothlinebacker andtight end for the Flyershigh school football team coached byBob Shannon. As a senior, he helped the school win the 6A state title, while receivingParade All-America and All-state honors. Intrack he once threw theshot put 60'.
Howard accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Illinois, where he became a four-year starter. After beingredshirted because the team had starterDarrick Brownlow atmiddle linebacker, in his freshman season he posted 134 tackles (conference record) and 4 sacks. He made a career-high 24 total tackles and a school record 20 solo tackles againstOhio State University. He had 23 tackles against theUniversity of Michigan.
From the start of his sophomore season he was a member of a talented linebacker corps that included fellow standoutsKevin Hardy,Simeon Rice andJohn Holecek. He registered 138 tackles and 4 forced fumbles. He had 18 tackles against theUniversity of Michigan and 17 againstOhio State University.
As a junior, he had 123 tackles and 4 passes defensed. He made 17 tackles against theUniversity of Minnesota.
As a senior in 1994, he recorded career-highs in tackles (141), tackles for loss (9), fumble recoveries (4) and interceptions (2), while also making 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. He tallied 18 tackles againstPurdue University and theUniversity of Michigan. He was recognized as a consensus first-teamAll-American that season, becoming the first Illini player to win theDick Butkus Award andJack Lambert Award, both presented annually to the best linebacker in college football.
He was the first player in school history to register at least 100 tackles in each of his four seasons, to lead the team in tackles for four straight years and he also finished as the all-time leadingtackler in school and conference history with 595.
In 2017, he was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.[2] In 2018, he was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame.[3]
Howard was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the fifth round (168th overall) of the1995 NFL draft, after dropping because of size concerns.[4][5] He was waived on August 27.
On August 28,1995, he was signed by theSt. Louis Rams. He played in 16 games as a rookie. He was released on August 20,1996.[6]
On November 6,1996, he signed with theChicago Bears,[7] playing in three games before breaking a finger and being placed on theinjured reserve list.[8] He wasn't re-signed at the end of the year.
On February 11,1999, he was signed by thePhiladelphia Eagles. He was allocated to theAmsterdam Admirals ofNFL Europe in the offseason. He was cut on September 4.[9]
He is the owner of Zoie LLC DBA Dana Howard Construction Company based inBelleville, Illinois.
In November 2024 Howard was indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud charges related to the covid Paycheck Protection Program.
<ref>https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/three-indicted-14-million-ppp-loan-fraud-scheme