Howard Griffith (born November 17, 1968) 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 with ...

fullback who spent 11 seasons in the NFL (1991–2001). While at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, Griffith set the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record for touchdowns in a game with eight. It occurred on September 22, 1990, against

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

in a 56–21 Illinois win. Raised in Chicago, Griffith attended now defunct Mendel Catholic Prep High School of the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some o ...

until his sophomore year. For his junior year, he transferred to Julian High School, where he was an All-City performer.

Biography

Griffith was drafted in the ninth round of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, but never played a regular-season game for the Colts. Griffith made his NFL debut with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in 1993. He played two seasons with the Rams, and then played two seasons with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

after being selected in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, Griffith joined the

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 headquart ...

, and played five seasons for the Broncos primarily as a blocking back for

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

. He didn't get very many rushing attempts, but was often used as a receiver out of the backfield, recording 27 receptions in 1996 and 26 in 1999. With the Broncos, Griffith won two

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

s in Super Bowl XXXII and

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atla ...

. Griffith was a big contributor in the Broncos Super Bowl XXXIII win, scoring two rushing touchdowns in the game. He also made a key 23-yard reception in the final quarter of Super Bowl XXXII, setting up Denver's final touchdown of the game. While playing for the Broncos, Howard earned the nickname "The Human Plow" due to his successful blocking for Davis. Griffith retired from the NFL at the start of the 2002 season, due to a neck injury sustained in the 2001 preseason that caused him to miss the entire 2001 campaign. His final totals over his 11 NFL seasons include 351 rushing yards and three touchdowns, along with 122 receptions for 844 yards and nine touchdowns. Today, Griffith works as a football analyst. He is one of the lead in-studio analysts for the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

, giving his weekly analysis of Big 10 football. In 2005, he was an analyst for the NFL and NFL Europe football leagues, as he commentated games that were broadcast by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and the NFL Networks. He is the author of the 2001 book ''Laying it on the Line''. His son Houston committed to Notre Dame in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Howard 1967 births Living people American football fullbacks Carolina Panthers players Denver Broncos players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Chicago African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople