Ian Michael Howfield (born June 4, 1966) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Sp ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). Howfield, who played college football at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, is the son of former NFL placekicker

Bobby Howfield Robert Michael Howfield (born 3 December 1936) is an English former professional sportsman who played both association football and American football. Early and personal life Howfield was born in Watford, and his son Ian Howfield kicked for th ...

. Howfield played six years in the

as a placekicker:

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

in 1987,

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 ...

from 1988 to 1989 (signed to the practice squad for both years),

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in 1990,

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in 1990–1991,

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in 1992 and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in 1993. He led the Oilers in scoring in 1991.

Early life and college career

Howfield graduated from

Columbine High School Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shoo ...

in 1984, then attended

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordi ...

from 1984 to 1985 on a soccer scholarship. He transferred to the University of Tennessee in 1986 to begin his placekicking career, graduating in 1988.

Professional career

National Football League

Howfield tried out with several NFL teams before making the final roster with the Houston Oilers. In August 1991, Howfield eventually beat out Teddy Garcia and

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for the Oilers' kicking position after making all three field goal attempts (38, 54, 29 yards) in his preseason debut against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. Howfield made 13 of 18 field goal attempts and 25 of 29 extra point attempts for Houston. However, after he missed a potential game-winning field goal against Washington (the undefeated Redskins won on their own made field goal in overtime), Howfield was released the following day by the Oilers. Howfield signed practice squad contracts in following years with the

, and

but never played in a regular-season NFL game again.

Arena Football League

In 1993, Howfield joined the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

of the Arena Football League, where he was 7 for 27 (25.9%) in field goals and 19 for 23 (82.6%) in extra points. He moved to the

Fort Worth Cavalry The Fort Worth Cavalry was an Arena Football League team which operated for a single season, 1994, in the National Conference. The league did not want to abandon the idea of having a franchise in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, a major media ma ...

in 1995, where he made 10 of 29 (34.5%) field goals and 40 of 53 (75.5%) extra points. 1995 saw his first full season in the AFL with the Las Vegas Sting, during which he led the league in scoring for kickers with 120 points, a then-league-record field goal percentage at 71.4 (20 of 28), field goals made (20), extra point percentage (91 percent), and longest field goal (61 yards against the

Miami Hooters Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a lin ...

). He was named Micatin Arena League Kicker of the Year and Second-team All-Arena for his season. He joined the

Anaheim Piranhas The Anaheim Piranhas were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The team was originally known as the Las Vegas Sting, ...

in 1996, where he went 21 for 43 (48.8%) in field goals and 63 for 73 (86.3%) in extra points. In 1996, he led the league in field goals made with 21 and was second in FG percentage at 48.8. The following year, he had a league-best 21 field goals made with a 47.7 conversion percentage, along with 62 for 74 on extra points. Howfield was in a life-threatening car accident that cut his career short at the end of the 1997 season in Las Vegas. He received two disk fusions in his lower back and an entire right knee cartilage replacement, and was out of football for five years recovering from the injuries (1998 to 2002). He made a comeback in 2003 with the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

. In his first game back from the car accident, he made all three field goals. Howfield moved to the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...

later that year, and concluded the season with a league-best 66.6 conversion percentage (10 of 15), followed by a 31-yard game winner in the playoffs as time expired to advance to the quarterfinals. He retired at the end of the 2003 season, but came back in 2004 with the

Las Vegas Gladiators {{Cat main, Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wikipedia categories named after buildings and structures in the United States Wikipedia categories named after sports venues ...

, where he played four games to fill in for injured kickers. He was three for five (60%) in field goals and 18 for 21 (85.7) in extra points. At the time of his final retirement, he held various league and team records and stats: * All-time 2-point drop kicks: 5th (2) * All-time field goal percentage: 15th (49%) * All-time field goal percentage in a season: 7th in 1995 with 71.4% (20 of 28). Arena League record at the time, lasted 9 years ** 8th 2005 with 66.7 (10 of 15) * All-time career field goal percentage: 15th (48.9%) * All-time field goals made: 9th (92) * 4th longest field goal ever made: 61 yards * 8th all time in kicking points: 614 * Tampa Bay Storm franchise record for longest playoff field goal: 47 yards * Tampa Bay Storm franchise record for field goals made in the playoffs: 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howfield, Ian 1966 births Living people Houston Oilers players Tennessee Volunteers football players American football placekickers Dallas Texans (Arena) players Fort Worth Cavalry players Las Vegas Sting players Anaheim Piranhas players New York Dragons players Tampa Bay Storm players Las Vegas Gladiators players Miami Dolphins players Seattle Seahawks players Denver Broncos players Philadelphia Eagles players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players American people of English descent Columbine High School alumni