Delano Andre Howell (born November 17, 1989) is a former
strong safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their duti ...
. He was originally signed by the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...
as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
in 2012. Howell played his four years of college football at
Stanford University first as a running back, before switching to safety. He is the younger brother of Dan Howell, who played football for the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
.
High school
Howell attended
William S. Hart High School
William S. Hart High School is a four-year State school, public secondary education in the United States, high school in the neighborhood of Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, Newhall in the city of Santa Clarita, California, United States. Found ...
in
Newhall,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
where he played football for the Indians as a
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. The ...
and ran track as a
sprinter,
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
er, and
triple jump
The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down t ...
er.
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...
selected him as the number 16 all-purpose back in the country and was chosen by
PrepStar
''PrepStar College Recruiting'', known also as ''PrepStar'', is an online magazine at www.prepstar.com, which was established in 1982. It provides information on the top football and basketball prospects in the United States. The online magazin ...
to be part of the All-West Region for the class of 2008 as well as a first-team all-state selection.
[Stanford Football: Delano Howell](_blank)
/ref> Howell set multiple school records in his time at Hart, including rushing yards (4,502), total touchdowns (82), points scored (494), and yards from scrimmage (5,930). He was named the 2007 CIF-Southern Section Northern Division Offensive Player of the Year.
Collegiate career
Howell competed in both football and track & field at Stanford University where he wore number 26 on the field. In track & field, he owned Stanford's best mark of 2011 in the long jump at 23-8 3/4.
As a freshman, Howell played football as a running back where he had a season best 59 rushing yards and 94 passing yards against San Jose State
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
and as a kickoff returner where he averaged 25.8 yards per return.
In his second year, he transferred to defense as a strong safety and totaled two interceptions, three pass breakups, and one fumble recovery. When he played the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
he became the first Stanford player to have two interceptions in one game since 2007 and had a career-high 15 tackles against California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.
Junior year Howell made the All-Pac-10
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
second-team and had 60 tackles, including 8 against USC, 11 against the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...
and 12 against Notre Dame
Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to:
* Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France
* University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States
** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
. Against the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, Howell picked up 8 tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
In his final year at Stanford, Howell missed three games due to a hand injury. He went on, however, to total seven tackles against Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in Cardinal's 41-38 loss in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl
The 2012 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Oklahoma State Cowboys, champions of the Big 12 Conference, played the Stanford Cardinal, an at-large selec ...
. He was awarded the Jack Huston Award for "the player who best exemplifies aggressiveness, exceptional performance and unheralded efforts" and was named to the All-Pac-12
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...
Conference first-team.
Howell ended his career at Stanford with 190 total tackles and seven interceptions in his 34 games.
Professional career
Howell was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills in April 2012 as a strong safety — the same position he played for three years in college. He is the seventh Hart High School graduate to play professionally after Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Matt Moore and former Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
quarterback Kyle Boller
Kyle Bryan Boller (born June 17, 1981) is a former American football quarterback. After playing college football for California, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round (19th overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played for the R ...
.
He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts on November 28, 2012.Colts Sign Delano Howell
/ref>
On October 6, 2013, Howell returned a field goal blocked by Lawrence Guy 61 yards for a Touchdown, with the Colts trailing 12-7 at the time. The play turned out to be one of the key moments in the Colts 34-28 win over the eventual Super Bowl XLVIII
Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...
champion Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...
.
Footnotes
External links
Indianapolis Colts bio
Buffalo Bills bio
Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Delano
1989 births
Living people
William S. Hart High School alumni
Players of American football from Santa Clarita, California
Stanford Cardinal football players
American football safeties
Buffalo Bills players
Indianapolis Colts players