 Howard in 2018 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 80, 81, 82, 18 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1970-05-15)May 15, 1970 (age 55) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 188 lb (85 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | St. Joseph (Cleveland, Ohio) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Michigan (1988–1991) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1992: 1st round, 4th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Expansion draft | 1995: 28th round, 55th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Desmond Kevin Howard (born May 15, 1970) is an Americansportscaster and former professionalfootballwide receiver who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He playedcollege football for theMichigan Wolverines, winning theHeisman Trophy in 1991, and was selected fourth overall in the1992 NFL draft by theWashington Redskins. Howard spent most of his career onspecial teams as areturn specialist and holds the NFL single-season record for punt return yardage. With theGreen Bay Packers, Howard was namedMost Valuable Player ofSuper Bowl XXXI after returning a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown against theNew England Patriots, the longest return inSuper Bowl history at the time. He is the only special teams player to receive the award. Howard was inducted to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Since 2005, he has served as an analyst onESPN College Gameday.
Howard was born inCleveland,Ohio and earned All-American and All-Ohio honors as a tailback during his senior season atSt. Joseph High School in Cleveland, Ohio, scoring 18 touchdowns on 1,499 rushing yards and intercepting 10 passes. For his career he totaled 5,392 rushing yards. He earned threevarsity letters each in track andfootball as well as one in basketball.
Howard played college football at theUniversity of Michigan. During his time there Howard set or tied five NCAA records, and twelve school records, including 19 receiving touchdowns in a single season, the program's current all-time record.[1] In 1991, Howard caught 62 passes for 985 yards and scored 23 total touchdowns, while also rushing for 180 yards and gaining 694 yards on special teams, with an average of 27.5 yards per kickoff return and 14.1 yards per punt return;[2] he also led the nation with 19 receiving touchdowns and co-led in scoring with 138 points.[3] He won theHeisman Trophy,Maxwell Award, andWalter Camp Award, earningunanimous All-American honors. Howard captured 85 percent of the first-place votes in balloting for the Heisman, the largest margin in history at that time. Howard also earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1992. In 2010, he was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame[4] and he was honored as the inauguralMichigan Football Legend, a program honoring former players equivalent to a retired jersey number. Each Michigan player to wear Howard's No. 21 jersey was to wear a patch recognizing Howard, and dress at a locker bearing a plaque with his name and time of tenure at Michigan.[5] Howard finished his three seasons at Michigan with 249 rushing yards, 134 receptions for 2,146 yards, 1,211 kickoff return yards, and 339 yards returning punts, while also scoring 37 touchdowns.
Howard had come to Michigan as a tailback and initially struggled for playing time. He met with Michigan counselorGreg Harden, who helped him to build his confidence and achieve success on and off the field.[6] Howard told60 Minutes in 2014: "If Greg Harden wasn’t at the University of Michigan…I don’t win the Heisman."[7]
On December 12, 2014, theBig Ten Network included Howard on "The Mount Rushmore ofMichigan Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Howard was joined in the honor byCharles Woodson,Tom Harmon, andAnthony Carter.
On November 28, 2015, Howard had his #21 officially retired along withGerald Ford (48), Tom Harmon (98), Ron Kramer (87), Bennie Osterbaan (47), and Albert, Alvin, and Whitey Wistert (11) at a ceremony before the Michigan game against Ohio State.[8] Howard commented afterward, "Any time you have your name mentioned along with Gerald Ford, you've done something right."
Born and raised in Cleveland, Howard was, he later said, "very, very familiar" with theMichigan–Ohio State football rivalry.[9] During the 1991 season, after he became a Heisman contender, Howard decided that he would do "something special" during the Ohio State-Michigan game "as a little shout-out to the people back in Ohio".[10]
Ohio State coachJohn Cooper ordered his team to avoid giving Howard chances to score. The punt that Howard returned for a touchdown in the game was supposed to goout of bounds, so the Ohio Statespecial teams players were unprepared for him.[9] In the end zone, Howard wanted to do a backflip but, Howard later said, "chickened out"; instead he imitated thepose of the football player on the Heisman trophy bust, immediately receiving much media attention. Comparing his act toMuhammad Ali's taunting of opponents,Steve Rushin observed that although Howard's pose did not closely resemble that of the statue, "that looks more like the Heisman Trophy of our imagination than the Heisman trophy itself ... thousands of people must have instantly picked up some object and tried to do the same thing". Howard later said that "all of a sudden, everyone was doing it"; many have imitated the act, including fellow athletes, celebrities, and PresidentsGeorge W. Bush andBarack Obama.[10] Howard said that the pose has become a greeting for fans meeting him, but he avoids doing it himself "because the more I do it, it kind of cheapens it".[9]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+7⁄8 in (1.77 m) | 184 lb (83 kg) | 30+3⁄8 in (0.77 m) | 8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[11] | ||||||||||||
After college, Howard was selected by theWashington Redskins in the first round, fourth overall in the1992 NFL draft.[12] The pick was considered a luxury for the Redskins, who had just wonSuper Bowl XXVI and had receiversArt Monk,Gary Clark, andRicky Sanders on the roster. The Redskins, worried that theGreen Bay Packers were going to draft Howard in the fifth spot, leapfrogged above them by dealing their two first-round picks - 6th and 28th - and their third-round choice (84th) to theCincinnati Bengals for their first-round pick (4th) and their third-round pick (58th).[13] Howard was the highest Redskins draft pick since they tookHall of Fame receiverCharley Taylor with the third pick in 1964.[13] Redskins head coachJoe Gibbs remarked of Howard "This guy doesn't have any flaws. We're excited."[14]
Howard's performance as a receiver was secondary to his skills as a punt and kickoff returner throughout his 11-year career. Though he recorded 92 receptions in his first four seasons, he excelled as a punt and kickoff returner throughout his career.
Howard played one season for theJacksonville Jaguars in1995, having been selected in the1995 NFL expansion draft with the 55th pick.[15] He had 26 receptions and one touchdown, with 10 kick returns.
His most notable professional season was in1996 for theGreen Bay Packers. He led the NFL in punt returns (58), puntreturn yards (875), punt return average (15.1), and punt return touchdowns (3), while gaining 460 kickoff return yards and catching 13 passes for 95 yards. His 875 punt return yards were an NFL record, easily surpassing the old record of 692 yards set byFulton Walker in1985. During the1996 NFL postseason, Howard had apunt return for a touchdown in a game between the Packers and theSan Francisco 49ers, and 46-yard punt return that set up another score. However, he did have an odd blunder in the second half, in which he failed to come out of the locker room in time for the start of the third quarter. No one on the team noticed, so the Packers had only 10 men on the field for the second-half kickoff, with no one in the returner position. As a result, San Francisco ran down the field and recovered the kickoff, leading to a 49ers touchdown. Still, the Packers won the game and eventually reachedSuper Bowl XXXI against theNew England Patriots.
| Desmond Howard's 99-yard kick return touchdown in the Superdome in Super Bowl XXXI | |
|---|---|
 Howard returns Adam Vinatieri's kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXI, January 26, 1997 |
The Packers led 27–14 at halftime, but Patriots quarterbackDrew Bledsoe led his team on a short drive that ended withCurtis Martin's 18-yard touchdown run to pull the Patriots within six points late in the third quarter. The Patriots boomed the ensuingkickoff to the one-yard line, but Howard effectively shattered the Patriots' hopes for a comeback with a 99-yard kickoff return for a Packers touchdown. His return and the Packers' subsequent two-point conversion closed out the scoring of the game, and the Packers eventually won 35–21.Bill Parcells, the Patriots' head coach, commented after the game: "We had a lot of momentum, and our defense was playing better. But [Howard] made the big play. That return was the game right there. He's been great all year, and he was great again today." Howard totaled a Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards and 154 kickoff return yards with one touchdown; his 244all-purpose yards also tied a Super Bowl record. His performance won him theSuper Bowl MVP award, making Howard the only player to ever win the award based solely on a special teams performance. His kickoff return touchdown in the Super Bowl ended up being the only one of his career.
Howard became afree agent after the season and signed with theOakland Raiders. He led the NFL in kickoff returns (61) and kickoff return yards (1,381). Howard spent the 1998 football season with the Raiders before re-joining the Packers in 1999.
In the middle of the 1999 season, Howard was cut by the Packers after subpar performance and multiple injuries.[16] He was signed by theDetroit Lions four days later, where he spent the rest of his career until his retirement after the 2002 season. In a special homecoming, he scored a special teams touchdown in his Lions debut. In February 2001, he made his first and onlyPro Bowl appearance as the NFC's kick returner.[17]
In his 11 NFL seasons, Howard caught 123 passes for 1,597 yards, rushed for 68 yards, returned 244 punts for 2,895 yards, and gained 7,595 yards returning 359 kickoffs. He also scored 15 touchdowns (7 receiving, 8 punt returns). Overall, Howard gained 12,155 all-purpose yards in his professional career.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Super Bowl MVP | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| NFL record | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Punt returns | Kick returns | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FC | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
| 1992 | WAS | 16 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 84 | 14.0 | 55 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 462 | 21.0 | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | WAS | 16 | 5 | 23 | 286 | 12.4 | 27 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 405 | 19.3 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | WAS | 16 | 15 | 40 | 727 | 18.2 | 81 | 5 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | JAX | 13 | 6 | 26 | 276 | 10.6 | 24 | 1 | 15 | 24 | 246 | 10.3 | 40 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 178 | 17.8 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | GB | 16 | 0 | 13 | 95 | 7.3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 58 | 875 | 15.1 | 92 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 460 | 20.9 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 1997 | OAK | 15 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 210 | 7.8 | 31 | 0 | 20 | 61 | 1,318 | 21.6 | 45 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1998 | OAK | 15 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 541 | 12.0 | 75 | 2 | 13 | 49 | 1,040 | 21.2 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 1999 | GB | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 93 | 7.8 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 364 | 19.2 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DET | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | 115 | 19.2 | 68 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 298 | 19.9 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | DET | 15 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 457 | 14.7 | 95 | 1 | 24 | 57 | 1,401 | 24.6 | 70 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2001 | DET | 14 | 1 | 10 | 133 | 13.3 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 201 | 9.1 | 34 | 0 | 19 | 57 | 1,446 | 25.4 | 91 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | DET | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 48 | 5.3 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 587 | 22.6 | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 156 | 29 | 123 | 1,597 | 13.0 | 81 | 7 | 77 | 244 | 2,895 | 11.9 | 95 | 8 | 118 | 359 | 7,959 | 22.2 | 91 | 0 | 12 | 5 | |
Howard currently works forESPN as a college football analyst. He appears as an in-studio personality and, in 2005, began traveling withChris Fowler,Lee Corso, andKirk Herbstreit to marquee matchup sites during the season for the pregame showESPN College Gameday.
He was the color commentator forDetroit Lions pre-season games on theDetroit Lions Television Network for two years. He called games for theNFL on Fox for one season with former ESPN colleagueCarter Blackburn.
Howard served as the cover athlete for the college football video gameNCAA Football 06.
Howard has 2 sons: Desmond Howard Jr. and Dhamir Howard and daughter Sydney Howard.
Howard practices meditation.[18]
Howard is a supporting Scholar of University of Michigan through the Desmond and Rebkah Howard Scholarship Fund.[19]
