| No. 74 | |||||||||
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| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1964-11-12)November 12, 1964 (age 61) Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 268 lb (122 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Bellarmine Prep (San Jose, California) | ||||||||
| College | Washington State | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1986:2[broken anchor]th round, 46th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Erik Matthew Howard (born November 12, 1964) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive tackle for 11 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He played nine seasons with theNew York Giants, and was a member of the teams that wonSuper BowlsXXI andXXV.
Howard graduated fromBellarmine Prep inSan Jose, California, and playedcollege football for theWashington State Cougars inPullman under head coachJim Walden. He wasAll-Pac-10 as a senior in1985,[1][2] and selected by the Giants in thesecond round of the1986 NFL draft, 46th overall.[3][4][5]
In the1990 NFC Championship game against the two-time defending NFL championSan Francisco 49ers, Howard came up with one of the biggest plays of the1990 season and arguably the biggest play in Giants history. With just under three minutes left in the game, the Giants trailed 13–12, and the 49ers had the game nearly wrapped up when Howard fought through a double-team block by 49ers' GuardGuy McIntyre and CenterJesse Sapolu to force running backRoger Craig to fumble the football after getting his helmet on the ball.[6] TeammateLawrence Taylor fought through two blocks by 49ers' TEBrent Jones and RBTom Rathman to get to the spot along the line of scrimmage where Craig was located to recover the fumble as the ball was forced out of Craig's grasp. The Giants went on to win the game onMatt Bahr's field goal, kicked with four seconds remaining to end the 49ers' bid for athree-peat. The Giants went on to winSuper Bowl XXV over theBuffalo Bills seven days later.
After the1994 season, Howard signed with theNew York Jets as a free agent and played with them for two years before deciding to retire. He currently resides inMarshall, Texas, with his wife Jennifer Howard and three children Jackson Howard, Katelynn Howard, and Keaton Howard.