Marcus Howard (born October 10, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

. Howard was also a member of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and Edmonton Eskimos.

Early life

Howard played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Hanahan High School in Hanahan, South Carolina. While there he played

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and was a three-time all-region and two-time class 2-A all-state choice. As a senior, he was the class 2-A Defensive Player of the Year. He also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and ran track.

College career

Howard played

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He played both

and linebacker. During his senior year, he started all 13 games and achieved First-team All- SEC honors after recording 41

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, 10.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. He finished his career with 79 tackles, 12 sacks, and four forced fumbles. He won the 2008 Sugar Bowl MVP after he posted 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble which he recovered in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

for a touchdown, and a deflected pass which was intercepted by teammate Dannell Ellerbe.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Howard was selected by the

in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He was waived on September 5, 2009.

Tennessee Titans

Howard signed a future contract with the

on January 13, 2010. He was waived on August 12. He was later re-signed, only to be released again on July 28, 2011.

Edmonton Eskimos

On August 1, 2011, Howard signed a contract with the Edmonton Eskimos of the

(CFL). He played for the Eskimos from 2011 to 2017. He was named a CFL West All-Star in 2011.

References

External links

Edmonton Eskimos player bio

Indianapolis Colts bio
*http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=40675&SPID=3571&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=308242&Q_SEASON=2007 *https://web.archive.org/web/20111123104626/http://esks.com/article/esks-add-to-d-line {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Marcus 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Berkeley County, South Carolina American football defensive ends American football linebackers Indianapolis Colts players Tennessee Titans players Players of Canadian football from South Carolina Canadian football defensive linemen Edmonton Elks players