James Lee Howell (September 27, 1914 – January 4, 1995) was an

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 ...

player and coach for 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 ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. Howell was born in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

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 (appr ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He was drafted by the Giants in the

1937 NFL Draft The 1937 National Football League Draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections, ...

, and played wide receiver and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

from 1937 to 1947. While playing for the Giants, he was elected to the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

to represent

Lonoke County Lonoke County is located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 68,356, making it the 11th-most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat is Lonoke and largest city is ...

in 1940 and served one term during the January to March 1941 session of the legislature. After his playing career ended, he was head coach for

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

football. Howell returned to the Giants in 1954 as head coach, succeeding fan, media, and player favorite Steve Owen. Howell quickly hired

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

as his offensive coordinator and shortly after converted

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

from player to defensive coordinator. From 1954 to 1960, the Giants played in three

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

s, defeating

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in 1956 by the score of 47–7. During Howell's seven seasons as head coach, he earned a career 53–27–4 record, with a .663 winning percentage. He drafted and coached a roster of stars, including six future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

rs,

Sam Huff Robert Lee "Sam" Huff (October 4, 1934 – November 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He played college foot ...

Andy Robustelli Andrew Richard Robustelli (December 6, 1925 – May 31, 2011) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. He played college football at Arnold College and was d ...

Rosey Brown Roosevelt "Rosey" Brown Jr. (October 20, 1932 – June 9, 2004) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1953 to 1965. He previously played coll ...

Emlen Tunnell Emlen Lewis Tunnell (March 29, 1924 – July 23, 1975), sometimes known by the nickname "The Gremlin", was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants and also the ...

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

, and

Don Maynard Donald Rogers Maynard (January 25, 1935 – January 10, 2022) was an American professional American football, football wide receiver known for playing for the New York Jets in the National Football League (NFL). He also played with the New York ...

. Although his conservative, defense-oriented style was unpopular with the fans and media, the Giants' success on the field was more satisfying. Several other players from this era went on to become head coaches and broadcasters. Howell played and coached in an era when football went from a relatively simple game, to one of great complexity with schemes, formations, and playbooks designed to deceive as much as over power. With future Hall of Famers Lombardi and Landry as coordinators, Howell's job was frequently to play the diplomat within his own team. Howell stayed with the team as Director of Player Personnel until his retirement in 1981. He died on January 4, 1995 in

Lonoke, Arkansas Lonoke () is the second most populous city in Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States, and serves as its county seat. According to 2010 United States Census, the population of the city is 4,245. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Ro ...

. The

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...

named Howell to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2007 Howell appeared on the April 30, 1957 episode of '' To Tell The Truth'' posing as a Texas Ranger.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Jim Lee 1914 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American politicians American football ends Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players New York Giants players New York Giants head coaches Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Wagner Seahawks football coaches People from Lonoke, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas American men's basketball players

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links