Comeback Kid Becomes Runback Kid

By STEVE SPRINGER

Jan. 27, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEW ORLEANS — Seven months ago, Desmond Howard was awaiting a call he dreaded, a call informing him that he had failed to survive the final cut at the Green Bay Packers’ preseason camp.

That call never came.

Sunday, Howard got a call he never expected, one from the President after being named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXI. The former Heisman Trophy winner who has been known to strike the Heisman pose on the field will soon be posing at the White House.

Such is the life of 5-foot-10, 176-pound Howard, whose career has taken as many unexpected turns as he has made in becoming arguably the premier return man in the NFL.

Howard didn’t have to make many turns Sunday on the return of his life, a Super Bowl-record 99-yard kickoff runback that enabled the Packers to regain the momentum in a game they went on to win, 35-21.

Curtis Martin had just run up the middle to score from 18 yards out to narrow the margin to 27-21 with 3:27 to play in the third quarter.

Howard supplied the Packers’ counterpunch, taking the ball at his one yard line and finding a gaping hole to his left.

All that appeared between Howard and the far-distant end zone was the Patriots’ Mike McGruder.

No problem, because Howard’s teammate, fellow kick returner Don Beebe, was also there.

“All I had to do,” Beebe said, “was get on the safety, put my helmet in his pads and then it’s him [Howard] and the kicker [Adam Vinatieri] and there’s no way the kicker is going to tackle Desmond in the open field. It’s impossible.”

Said Howard: “Once I saw Don Beebe in front of me, I figured it was pretty much a done deal. I just tried to hit the hole at full tilt and make the kicker miss.”

That may have been the highlight of Howard’s day, but he wasn’t through rewriting the Super Bowl record book. In all, he returned four kickoffs for 154 yards and six punts for 90 yards. The 90 yards are also a Super Bowl record.

When Howard was done, he took his call from President Clinton.

“Basically, the president was talking about how he had a bunch of congressmen in there,” Howard said, “and they watched the game on the big screen. He realized I’d had some trying times, and he was very happy to see me prevail at this point.”

Perhaps President Clinton, no stranger to hard times himself, could relate. In the political world, Clinton is known as the Comeback Kid. In the world of pro football, Howard could claim that title.

When Howard came out of Michigan in 1992 as a Heisman Trophy winner, he was a hot item.

Green Bay wanted him, but so did the Washington Redskins and they traded up to the fourth spot in the draft to nab him.

But on a team already rich in receiving talent, it never seemed to work out for Howard. After three seasons there, he was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. They kept him for a season and he landed in Green Bay in 1996 as a free agent.

“To compete at this level,” Howard said, “you have to have a lot of confidence in yourself. I know exactly what my talents are, and I was never discouraged no matter what anyone said or wrote. Obviously my parents and my loved ones know what I can do. They’ve seen me perform since high school, and they’ve always been supportive. But if the confidence is not within the individual, then you are not going to be effective.”

Even Howard’s confidence was severely tested when he was hampered by a hip injury in the Packers’ camp.

“It was very frustrating,” he said, “because I wasn’t getting the opportunity to show them what I could do.”

He got his chance, but what now for Howard? Does he live happily ever after in Green Bay?

Not necessarily. He is about to become a free agent again and, according to his agent, Leigh Steinberg, Howard still wants to be a primary receiver.

“There’s two sides to it,” Steinberg said. “On the one hand, he’s a specialist and has a unique role with the Green Bay Packers. On the other hand, he’s a receiver. He wants to get his hands on the ball.”

But in the joyous Packer locker, room, Howard, the first special-teams player and the fourth Heisman winner to be named Super Bowl MVP, was good-naturedly arguing with fellow receivers Beebe and Andre Rison as to which one is the tallest.

Howard is actually the shortest. But not on Sunday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SUPER BOWL MVPs

1967--Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay Packers

1968--Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay Packers

1969--Joe Namath, QB, New York Jets

1970--Len Dawson, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

1971--Chuck Howley, LB, Dallas Cowboys

1972--Roger Staubach, QB, Dallas Cowboys

1973--Jake Scott, S, Miami Dolphins

1974--Larry Csonka, RB, Miami Dolphins

1975--Franco Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers