Delano Howell

Delano Andre Howell^[1] (born November 17, 1989) is a strong safety who is currently a free agent. 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]

High school

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]

Collegiate career

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]

Professional career

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.

Footnotes

External links

• Indianapolis Colts bio
• Buffalo Bills bio
• Stanford Cardinal bio