Thomas Howard (American football)
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Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Oakland, California, U.S.
.JPG) Howard in 2009 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 51, 53 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | July 14, 1983 Lubbock, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | November 18, 2013 (aged 30) Oakland, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Estacado (Lubbock, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College | UTEP (2002–2005) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2006: 2nd round, 38th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Thomas Arquis Howard (July 14, 1983 – November 18, 2013) was an American professional football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft.[1] He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for the University of Texas at El Paso.
Thomas A. Howard began his college career as a walk-on at the University of Texas at El Paso and was then redshirted. He had a solid freshman season, being named to Sporting News All-WAC Freshman team. He played in 11 games and made 4 starts at weakside linebacker. The following season, he played in 13 games and started 10 of them. He had a great junior season being named Second Team All-WAC and helping lead his team to their first bowl game since 2001. He had a mediocre senior season after being named pre-season defensive player of the year in the state of Texas.
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+1⁄4 in (1.91 m) | 239 lb (108 kg) | 32+1⁄2 in (0.83 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 4.44 s | 1.58 s | 2.62 s | 4.28 s | 6.96 s | 39.0 in (0.99 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 21 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine[2][3] | ||||||||||||
Oakland Raiders
Howard recorded 110 tackles, 88 solo tackles, and 1 pass deflection in 2006.[4]
Howard's second season started off with an interception in each of his first 4 games, 2 of them which were returned for touchdowns. Since then he has also recorded a quarterback sack and 8 passes defensed. In only his second NFL season, Howard led the NFL in linebacker interceptions with 6 for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. At the end of 2007, Howard had 95 tackles, 77 solo, 11 pass deflections, 6 interceptions, 1 sack, and 2 touchdowns.
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In 2008, Howard recorded his first career forced fumble during a week 2 victory against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs. He recorded a second during a week 16 victory against the Houston Texans. At the end of the season, Thomas Howard had 97 tackles, 80 solo, 5 pass deflections, 1 interception, 1 sack, and 2 forced fumbles.
In 2009, while tallying a career low 79 tackles (72 of which were solo), Howard still came away with a career-high 2 sacks. He finished the season with 79 tackles, 72 solo, 6 pass deflections, 2 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
In 2010, The Raiders waived him after 12 games.
Cincinnati Bengals
In the 2011 offseason, Howard signed a 2-year deal with the Bengals worth $6.5 million.[5]
On September 13, 2012, Joe Reedy of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Bengals had placed Howard on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in practice.[6]
Atlanta Falcons
Howard was signed by the Atlanta Falcons on October 22, 2013, and subsequently released on November 12, 2013, having appeared in two games.[7]
NFL statistics
| Year | Team | GP | COMB | TOTAL | AST | SACK | FF | FR | FR YDS | INT | IR YDS | AVG IR | LNG | TD | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | OAK | 16 | 110 | 88 | 22 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2007 | OAK | 16 | 95 | 77 | 18 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 172 | 29 | 66 | 2 | 11 |
| 2008 | OAK | 16 | 97 | 80 | 17 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -3 | -3 | -3 | 0 | 5 |
| 2009 | OAK | 16 | 79 | 72 | 7 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2010 | OAK | 12 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011 | CIN | 16 | 99 | 64 | 35 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2012 | CIN | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 93 | 492 | 391 | 101 | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 169 | 24 | 66 | 2 | 29 |
