Thomas Howard (American football)

Infobox NFLactive
name=Thomas Howard
currentteam=Oakland Raiders
currentnumber=53
currentpositionplain=Outside linebacker


birthdate=birth date and age|1983|7|14
birthplace=Lubbock, Texas
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=240
debutyear=2006
debutteam=Oakland Raiders
college=Texas-El Paso
draftyear=2006
draftround=2
draftpick=38
pastteams=
* Oakland Raiders (2006-present)
status=Active
nfl=HOW416588

Thomas Howard (born July 14, 1983) is an American football linebacker for the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Texas at El Paso.

College career

Thomas 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.

NFL career

After a good rookie season with the Oakland Raiders, in which he recorded 110 tackles, Howard has continued his run of form with a sophomore season which 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.

Personal

His father, Thomas Howard, Sr., also played in the NFL as a linebacker and his Cousin is Terry Ellis, a member of the singing group, En Vogue

External links

* [http://www.mr53.com/ Thomas Howard Official Website]
* [http://www.raiders.com/Team/PlayerBio.aspx?id=580 Oakland Raiders bio]