| No. 36, 26 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Safety | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | November 17, 1989 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Weight: | 201 lb (91 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Hart (Newhall, California) | ||
| College: | Stanford | ||
| Undrafted: | 2012 | ||
| Career history | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||
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| Player stats at NFL.com | |||
Delano Andre Howell[1] (born November 17, 1989) is a former safety. He was originally signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent 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.[2]
Howell attended William S. Hart High School in Newhall, California where he played football for the Indians as a running back and ran track as a sprinter, long jumper, and triple jumper. Rivals.com selected him as the number 16 all-purpose back in the country and was chosen by PrepStar to be part of the All-West Region for the class of 2008 as well as a first-team all-state selection.[3] 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).[3] He was named the 2007 CIF-Southern Section Northern Division Offensive Player of the Year.[4]
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.[3]
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 and as a kickoff returner where he averaged 25.8 yards per return.[3]
In his second year, he transferred to defense as a strong safety and totaled two interceptions, three pass breakups, and one fumble recovery.[3] When he played the University of Washington he became the first Stanford player to have two interceptions in one game since 2007 and had a career-high 15 tackles against California.[3]
Junior year Howell made the All-Pac-10 second-team and had 60 tackles, including 8 against USC, 11 against the University of Arizona and 12 against Notre Dame.[3] Against the University of Oregon, Howell picked up 8 tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery.[3]
In his final year at Stanford, Howell missed three games due to a hand injury.[3] He went on, however, to total seven tackles against Oklahoma State in Cardinal's 41-38 loss in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.[3] 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 Conference first-team.[3]
Howell ended his career at Stanford with 190 total tackles and seven interceptions in his 34 games.[3]
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.[5] He is the seventh Hart High School graduate to play professionally after Miami quarterback Matt Moore and former Oakland quarterback Kyle Boller.[6]
He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts on November 28, 2012.[7] 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 champion Seattle Seahawks.