Desmond Howard

Desmond Howard

Howard in 2018
No. 80, 81, 18, 82
Position:	Wide receiver Return specialist
Personal information
Born:	(1970-05-15)May 15, 1970 Cleveland,Ohio, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:	St. Joseph(Cleveland, Ohio)
College:	Michigan(1988–1991)
NFL draft:	1992/ Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Career history
Washington Redskins(1992–1994) Jacksonville Jaguars(1995) Green Bay Packers(1996) Oakland Raiders(1997–1998) Green Bay Packers (1999) Detroit Lions(1999–2002)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion(XXXI) Super Bowl MVP(XXXI) First-teamAll-Pro(1996) Pro Bowl(2000) PFWA All-Rookie Team(1992) Heisman Trophy(1991) Maxwell Award(1991) Walter Camp Award(1991) UPI Player of the Year(1991) SNPlayer of the Year(1991) Chic Harley Award(1991) Paul Warfield Trophy(1991) Unanimous All-American(1991) Third-teamAll-American(1990) Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year(1992) Big Ten Most Valuable Player(1991) Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year(1991) 2× First-teamAll-Big Ten(1990,1991) Michigan Wolverines No. 21retired
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 123 Receiving yards: 1,597 Receivingtouchdowns: 7 Kickoff return yards: 7,959 Punt return yards: 2,895 Return touchdowns: 8
Player stats atPFR
College Football Hall of Fame

Desmond Kevin Howard(born May 15, 1970) is an American formerfootballwide receiverandreturn specialistwho played in theNational Football League(NFL) for 11 seasons. He playedcollege footballfor theMichigan Wolverines,where he was a two-timeAll-American,including aunanimous All-Americanselection in 1991, winning theHeisman Trophy.He was selected fourth overall in the1992 NFL Draftby theWashington Redskins.Howard spent most of his career onspecial teamsas a return specialist and holds the NFL single season record for punt return yardage. With theGreen Bay Packers,Howard was namedMost Valuable PlayerofSuper Bowl XXXIafter setting an NFL record for punt return yards and returning a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown, the longest return inSuper Bowlhistory at the time. To date, he is the only special teams player to receive the award. He was inducted to theCollege Football Hall of Famein 2010.

High school career

Howard was born inCleveland,Ohioand earned All-American and All-Ohio honors as a tailback during his senior season atSt. Joseph High Schoolin Cleveland, Ohio, scoring 18 touchdowns with a record-breaking 5,392 rushing yards, as well as 10 interceptions on defense. He earned threevarsity letterseach in track andfootball,as well as one in basketball.

College career

Howard posing with the Heisman Trophy in December 1991.

Howard celebrating a touchdown against Notre Dame in September 1991.

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.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.He won theHeisman Trophy,Maxwell Award,andWalter Camp Award,earningunanimous All-Americanhonors. 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 Fameand 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.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.Howard told 60 Minutes in 2014: "If Greg Harden wasn’t at the University of Michigan…I don’t win the Heisman."

On December 12, 2014, theBig Ten Networkincluded 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.Howard commented afterward, "Any time you have your name mentioned along with Gerald Ford, you've done something right."

The Heisman pose

Born and raised in Cleveland, Howard was, he later said, "very, very familiar" with theMichigan–Ohio State football rivalry.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".

Ohio State coachJohn Cooperordered 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 teamsplayers were unprepared for him.In the end zone, Howard wanted to do a backflip but, Howard later said, "chickened out"; instead he imitated theposeof the football player on the Heisman trophy bust, immediately receiving much media attention. Comparing his act toMuhammad Ali's taunting of opponents,Steve Rushinobserved 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. BushandBarack Obama.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".

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span
5 ft9+7⁄8in (1.77 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	30+3⁄8in (0.77 m)	8+7⁄8in (0.23 m)
All values from NFL Combine

After college, Howard was selected by theWashington Redskinsin the first round, fourth overall in the1992 NFL Draft.The pick was considered a luxury for the Redskins, who had just wonSuper Bowl XXVIand had receiversArt Monk,Gary Clark,andRicky Sanderson the roster. The Redskins, worried that theGreen Bay Packerswere 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 Bengalsfor their first-round pick (4th) and their third-round pick (58th).Howard was the highest Redskins draft pick since they tookHall of FamereceiverCharley Taylorwith the third pick in 1964.Redskins head coachJoe Gibbsremarked of Howard "This guy doesn't have any flaws. We're excited."

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 Jaguarsin1995,having been selected in the1995 NFL expansion draftwith the 55th pick.He had 26 receptions and one touchdown, with 10 kick returns.

Howard in 2014 while attending a Michigan game

His most notable professional season was in1996for 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 Walkerin1985.During the1996 NFL postseason,Howard had apunt returnfor 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 XXXIagainst 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 Bledsoeled 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 ensuingkickoffto 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 yardsalso tied a Super Bowl record. His performance won him theSuper Bowl MVPaward, 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 agentafter 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.He was signed by theDetroit Lionsfour 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 Bowlappearance as the NFC's kick returner.

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.

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Super Bowl MVP
	Won theSuper Bowl
	NFL record
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

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

Broadcasting career

Chris Fowlerand Desmond Howard conducting postgame coverage forCollege GameDay

Howard currently works forESPNas a college football analyst. He appears as an in-studio personality and, in 2005, began traveling withChris Fowler,Lee Corso,andKirk Herbstreitto marquee matchup sites during the season for the pregame showESPN College Gameday.

He is also currently the color commentator forDetroit Lionspre-season games on theDetroit Lions Television Network.He called games for theNFL on Foxfor one season with former ESPN colleagueCarter Blackburn.

Personal life

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.

See also

• Lists of Michigan Wolverines football receiving leaders
• List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders

External links

• Official website
• Michigan profile
• Desmond Howardat theCollege Football Hall of Fame
• Desmond HowardatHeisman.com
• Career statistics and player information fromNFL.com·Pro Football Reference
• Desmond HowardatIMDb