The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday- September 23, 1991- Page 7
HOWARD
Continued from page 1
myself," Howard said. "Come
September 28th, the Notre Dame
game will be irrelevant. I'm now in
the same situation (Houston
quarterback David) Klingler was in
when everybody was talking about
him until the Miami game, when his
stock went down."
Michigan quarterback Elvis
Grbac admires Howard's
perspective. "The thing about
Desmond is that he doesn't just sit
down and say 'I want to win the
Heisman,"' Grbac said. "He just
wants to win ballgames; he doesn't
care about the individual aspect.
And at the end of the season, if
things work out alright for him,
that's great."
Even if Howard actively sought
the Heisman Trophy, the goal
would become increasingly more
- elusive each week, says close friend
and former all-American safety
Tripp Welborne.
"Just as he made his name off
other defensive backs, they'll want
to make their names off him,"
Welborne explained. "Not only
will they try to stop him, they'll
try to embarrass him and get
recognition for themselves by doing
it. That's why, just as hard as it is to
get there, it's hard to stay there."
However, to say Howard doesn't
,...care about the Heisman Trophy is
*inaccurate. Unlike many other
candidates over the years, Howard
entered college without fanfare, an
undersized tailback stepping into a
program that hadn't produced a
Heisman winner since Tom Harmon
in 1940.
"There was no hype for him
when he started," Welborne said.
"Starting from the bottom and
:making your own hype is a good
feeling."
Howard made the switch from
tailback to receiver his third day at
Michigan. "There were a lot of
running backs, and they thought I
would be able to help the team
earlier and more effectively as a
receiver.
"I was also a defensive back in
high school, so I didn't have too
much of a problem catching the
ball," Howard said. "We had to
work on it, but it seems as though
everything's turned out so far."
He developed his big-play
capability at Cleveland's St. Joseph
High School, as an an all-America
tailback/free safety. In his senior
year, Howard recorded 18
touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
"That year, he played every down
*- he was only off the field when
we punted," St. Joseph coach John
Storey said. "He was exciting to
watch even in practice."
Grbac and Howard were high
school teammates. But coming from
different backgrounds, the two were
not close friends.
"Our friendship is kind of
strange," Grbac said. "We're not
6 really that close, but when we have
. to get the job done, we'll sit down
and talk about it. It's just a funny
thing that we ended up at the same
college; the two aspects of going to
college here were different for each
of us."
Howard decided to attend
Michigan before Grbac, spurning
Ohio State, which was then amidst a
coaching change. Despite initial
apprehension, he feels he made a
good decision.
"It was a bit of a culture shock
coming here, like it would be for
any Black youth coming from the
inner city," Howard said. "Plus, I
went to an all-male Catholic high
school. But this university is a great
source of knowledge for those who
seek it."
Howard is one of those people.
His list of hobbies includes the
standards, such as listening to
music. But it also contains "gaining
knowledge."
"A lot of people are fascinated
that a person wants to study things
about Black history and Black
athletes, and they ask me why,"
Howard said. "I'm a Black athlete.
If there's a problem, I want to know
about it and be educated about it so
if I'm confronted with it, I'll know
how to deal with it."
He feels his previous education
lacked sufficient emphasis on Afro-
American issues.
"As a Black individual growing
up, you're not really taught about
yourself in schools. I can't recall a
person who I learned about in
school who is greater than Nelson
Mandela in terms of personal
beliefs and something he stood up
for," Howard explained. "Now, he
was in jail for 27 years; I'm only 21,
so he was in jail before I went to
school. But I never learned about
him."
Though many of his teammates
share an interest in Black history,
Howard is often more outspoken.
Welborne and Howard hold similar
beliefs, yet both agree Welborne is
more subtle about his opinions.
Hesitating at the word militant,
Howard instead characterizes
himself as passionate.
'He just amazes me
every day, even if it's
at practice. ... That's
what's special about
Desmond Howard. He
expects a lot of good
things out of himself'
-Elvis Grbac
Michigan quarterback
"When he has an opinion, when
he's enlightened, he wants to help
you," Welborne said. "He wants to
share the knowledge that brought
him the satisfaction of
understanding, because he wants
everyone around him to share in that
satisfaction."
Howard aspires to one day hold
his own seminars, imparting his
ideas to audiences nationwide. He
plans to earn a graduate degree in
sociology and embark on the lecture
circuit, drawing on his athletic
status to grab people's initial
interest.
He currently visits local schools
as a prominent athlete, but stresses
to youths the importance of
knowledge.
"Athletics will certainly
increase my credibility," Howard
said. "I go down to the schools in
Ann Arbor and because of athletics,
I can hold their attention much
longer than most of the teachers can.
"I usually speak about education
and self-discipline," he added. "I
have a Q-and-A period at the end, and
they usually ask questions about
Agassi launches U.S.
into Davis
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -
Andre Agassi, given the charge to
save America's Davis Cup team,
thrived on the pressure instead of
choking under it yesterday and fin-
ished off Germany to put the United
States in the final against France.
Agassi dumped the burdens he's
been carrying in a year of frustration
as he blew away Carl-Uwe Steeb 6-
2, 6-2, 6-3 to give the defending
champion U.S. team a 3-2 match vic-
tory after Germany had scrambled
back from a 2-0 deficit.
Agassi and Jim Courier had put
the United States within one vic-
tory of the finals on Friday when
they took their singles matches. But
Germany's Michael Stich, the
Wimbledon champion, brought his
team back by helping to win the
doubles on Saturday and then upset-
ting Courier in the first match yes-
terday.
Stich cavorted on clay as he did
Cup final
on grass at Wimbledon, turning
loose a savage serve-and-volley
game, spitting toward hecklers and
beating Courier 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to tie
the series.
Agassi has had trouble coping
with pressure in the past, losing his
third Grand Slam final in the French
Open in June against Courier and
getting knocked out in the first
round of the U.S. Open against
Aaron Krickstein.
But this was a different, more
determined Agassi, who used the
pressure to raise his game against a
skilled clay-court player just as he
had against Stich in the first match.
Howard looks for a block from offensive lineman Rob Doherty (70).
athletics, but I try to give them an
answer related to academics."
Welborne connects Howard's
desire to share ideas with his
athletic accomplishments. "He's
got tremendous pride," Welborne
said. "He remembers where he's
from and what he's done to get
where he is. Bettering himself is an
obligation for him; he wants to do
his best, whether in football or in
life, not only for himself, but for
the people who love him."
Howard exudes tremendous self-
confidence, a quality he attributes to
self-knowledge. His self-
knowledge, in turn, comes from
knowing about himself on both
individual and ethnic levels.
"As you grow older and mature,
you get different sources of
knowledge," he said. "For a while,
there was an era where what my dad
did was the destiny and inspiration.
Then I read Malcolm X's
autobiography and the things he
went through."
But unlike the stereotype of a
Black activist, Howard refrains
from using negative terms like
"racist."
"Malcolm X was supposed to be
termed a racist. To me, a racist is
like an artist or a violinist -
someone who has studied racism in
America and is a professional on the
subject of race," he said. "What
others think are race problems, I
just think is a lack of knowledge."
Howard's desire for knowledge
leads him to take academics
seriously.
"A lot of people don't take care
of their priorities and realize that
they are a student first, and an
athlete second," he said. "When you
get your tuition paid for, and your
room and board paid for, there's a
tendency to consider yourself not a
student-athlete, but an athlete-
student. And I think that's where a
lot of people fall by the wayside."
Howard will leave Michigan
having received a degree, and with
career plans that will no doubt
defer to a stint in the NFL. He
might even walk away with a
Heisman Trophy as well.
But Welborne is quick to point
out that trophy or no trophy,
Howard's successes remain
extraordinary.
"Des could come out and score a
couple of TD's a week, like he's
done, and still come in second,"
Welborne said. "But if you look at
the second-place guy last year
(Raghib "Rocket" Ismail), he got
16 million to go to Toronto."
Howard and Ismail have been
compared ad infinitum; Rocket is
faster, Des has better hands, et
cetera, et cetera. But one aspect may
have been overlooked thus far -
Rocket left Notre Dame after his
junior year.
Howard is now a junior, and says
he's coming back next year; Grbac
will be happy to play with him for
another season.
"He just amazes me every day,
even if it's at practice," Grbac said.
"He comes up with big plays, plays
that you haven't seen. That's what's
special about Desmond Howard. He
expects a lot of good things out of
himself."
No one's been disappointed so
far.
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RECREATIONAL SPORTS
Club Sports Program
Club Sports President/Representative Meeting
Tuesday, September 24, 1991
7:00 p.m. (Doors close at 7:10 p.m.)
North Campus Recreational Building
All Club Sports Recognized by Club Sports Program must
have their Club President/Representative at this meeting.
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