Early years

Howard was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. Howard attended East St. Louis High School, where he played for the East St. Louis Flyers high school football team coached by Bob Shannon.

College career

While attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Howard played for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team from 1991 to 1994. He was a member of Illinois' talented linebacker corps that included fellow standouts Kevin Hardy, Simeon Rice and John Holecek. As a senior in 1994, he became the first Illini player to win the Dick Butkus Award and Jack Lambert Award, both presented annually to the best linebacker in college football. Howard earned first-team All-American honors in 1993, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1994. He was the first player in school history to register at least 100 tackles in each of his four seasons and is the all-time leading tackler in Fighting Illini history, with 595.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Howard was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round (168th overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft. He was waived on August 27.

St. Louis Rams

On August 28, 1995, he was signed by the St. Louis Rams and after playing in 16 games, he was released on August 20, 1996.

Chicago Bears

On November 6, 1996, he signed with the Chicago Bears, playing in three games before breaking a finger and being placed on the injured reserve list. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the year.

Philadelphia Eagles

On February 11, 1999, he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in the offseason. He was cut on September 4, 1999.

Personal life

He is the owner of Zoie LLC DBA Dana Howard Construction Company based in Belleville, Illinois.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]