Q&A with Richard Howell '94, Owner of a Super Bowl XLI Ring
8/1/2007 1:56:33 PM | Football
Lauren Biggers
If there is a blueprint for climbing the football ladder, Richard Howell probably wrote it.
After a standout performance as the quarterback of the Wildcat football team from 1990-93, where he finished his career with five Davidson records and was ranked fourth nationally in scoring for Division 1-AA in his senior season, Howell '94 continued as an assistant coach with his alma mater.
After a graduate assistantship in strength and conditioning with the University of North Carolina Tar Heel football team, and an internship with the scouting department of the Carolina Panthers, he played both semi-professionally in Charlotte and internationally in Sweden.
Then, with his playing days behind him, he became the head strength and conditioning coach for the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe.
And now, after finishing his seventh season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Indianapolis Colts, Howell is a World Champion.
Sure, Super Bowl XLI will go down as the one where Peyton Manning got his ring. But Richard Howell got one, too. Or at least he will sometime this spring.
And while Howell's journey from Wildcat to World Champion is anything but textbook, it is proof that working hard and following your dreams really can pay off in the end.
Or is it the beginning? Howell, whose name is still scattered throughout the Wildcat record book, is just 34, after all, and has experienced success on every level.
Or has he?
Howell, who graduated from Davidson with a degree in biology, lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Alexis and Jacob. Recently I spoke with him over the phone.
Of course this is the most obvious of questions, but let's get the big stuff out of the way first, and we'll go from there. How did it feel to actually be at the Super Bowl?
A dream come true. It was really and truly amazing. Anybody involved in sports will tell you that growing up you dream of playing in that big game. So to actually have the opportunity to be in that game is just a dream come true. It was awesome just to get there.
What was the scene like in Miami?
I guess one thing I told most people is that there is a lot of stuff going on with all the festivities. So you try to enjoy some of that stuff because you might not have the chance to go back, but at the same time, it was also just work for us. When we were out on that field, we had to treat it like any other game.
That can't have been all that easy to do ...
Well, the real excitement started to set in after the game. When we got to see and hold the Lombardi trophy. And then to get to share that with our family and friends and the team owners, it was really special.
I read a little about the team's arrival back in Indianapolis. It sounded pretty exciting.
When we came back home, it was probably minus ten degrees outside, but you would have never known it. From the looks of the place, you would have thought that we were having a game that day. The stadium was truly packed, and a lot of those fans waited probably three hours. The whole town was just really excited, and it was so wonderful to share that with family and friends.
We started at the end of the story, but take us back to the beginning. How did you end up on the sidelines at the Super Bowl?
After Davidson, I still had aspirations to play football. There were a couple of NFL and CFL teams that allowed me to try out, but nothing really worked out. The arena league team in town, I think it was called the Charlotte Rage ... I guess you could say we dated each other for a while, but it didn't really stick. I ended up playing in a semi-professional league with the Charlotte Blast. It was an opportunity for me to keep playing and learn a new position. I played quarterback at Davidson, but I learned the wide receiver and defensive back positions. And then that following summer, I ended up going over to Sweden. It was a great opportunity for me to live in another country and experience another culture.
That must have been exciting. What brought you back?
I was playing in a small league, and I knew in order for me to really make it as a player, I had to do it in the U.S. I tried out with some arena league teams, but nothing really worked out. At the time, Coach (Tim) Landis (1993-1999) was the head coach at Davidson, and he allowed me to stay on as a coach. So I would spend the fall and winter helping with recruiting and assisting, and then he allowed me to train and pursue a professional career in the spring. It really worked out well.
How, then, did you end up working in strength and conditioning?
I was a biology major at Davidson. I did all the pre-med stuff and took the MCAT, but I just never had a burning desire to go that route. I spent four years in all coaching in Davidson, but I didn't really want to coach either. I decided it was time to grow up and be an adult, and during my coaching years at Davidson, I was assigned to handle the strength and conditioning for the football team and for some of the other teams, and I really started to enjoy that part of it.
Do you still follow the Wildcats?
Oh yes, always have and always will. Davidson holds a very special place in my heart. And I definitely have followed pretty closely the past couple of years. I coached with (head coach) Tripp (Merritt), and he and I were roommates when I was there. I helped recruit a couple of those players, so I do keep up with the Wildcats. They had a great year.
Oooh ... Any good Coach Merritt stories you'd like to share?
(Laughing). Ask Tripp some time about how he almost drowned me out at Lake Norman with his dog. I was almost a dead man. Tripp's a great guy. I love him to death, and I'm excited for him and how the team is doing.
I saw in your bio that you spent some time in Chapel Hill. I spent some time there, too.
Oh, really? When were you there?
I graduated in 2004. Let's call them the Julius Peppers years.
Okay, yeah. My last year at Carolina was his freshman season. I went to Carolina to work on my graduate degree in exercise science and to experience athletes at that level. I spent 1998 and 1999 as a graduate assistant there, and then in the summer of '99, I got the opportunity to go over to the NFL Europe and work with the Barcelona Dragons as a strength and conditioning coach. It was a great way to get to see the world for free and to work with athletes on an even higher level.
And then you ended up in Indianapolis as a World Champion. That's quite a tale really and a dramatic ascent.
Yeah, you're right. For me, it happened very quickly. I was a young man when I first got here (Indianapolis). There are others who move up much more slowly, but I have been very blessed.
How have you liked living in Indianapolis?
Indianapolis is a great city. I tell people that it is kind of like having Charlotte up north, without all that traffic. The people are very friendly, and it's a great place to raise a family. The city is big enough so that there is a lot going on socially, but it is not so big that we have traffic and crime on every corner. And the location is pretty good, because we are close to plenty of other big cities.
So after everyone asks about the Super Bowl, they probably ask this, but how is it working with Peyton Manning? You have to give the people (okay, me) what they want ...
First, you are a little star-struck, but everything you hear about him is completely true. You would want your sons and daughters to have a lot of his characteristics. He is a great member of the community, and he is completely focused on football. Everything that you hear about that, about his preparation and his work ethic, it's completely true. When it is time for him to do his work, he is going to do his craft the best he can.
Having worked with athletes on all different levels, what separates somebody like Peyton Manning from the rest?
I think there are three things that make great players great. They are good at what they do, first of all, because of God-given ability. They also have passion for the game; they love what they do and are passionate about it. Third, they work extremely hard, and that's what separates them from the other guys in this league. Peyton is a good guy with a good sense of humor, but he works hard, and he makes everyone around him better.
Would you say the same is true of Tony Dungy?
With Tony, what you hear is true times a hundred. Sometimes you can't believe everything you hear, but with Tony everything you hear is true. I have learned so much from him. I was here first with Jim Mora, and in this league, you never know what a new coach will do with the personnel. But when Tony first got this job, he told the (team) president, the paper, everyone that first in his life is God and his faith, and then comes his family, and then it's football. And that's not just what he thinks and says, but that's the way he lives, and that's the way he encourages us to live. If something comes up with your family, you go ahead and take care of it. Family comes before football. He says it, and he believes it. This world that we live in says nothing should come before your job. Tony recently said that most people probably wouldn't have gotten hired for his position with his philosophy, but he's very successful. God has been very faithful to him because he's been faithful. He's one of the best in the business.
So what comes after a Super Bowl ring? Disney World?
(laughing) A couple more rings? With this business, I'm just happy to have a job. Eventually, I would love to be a head guy somewhere, and I'd love to stay in the NFL. I've kind of gotten used to this league, and I would like to stay here, but who knows.
After a standout performance as the quarterback of the Wildcat football team from 1990-93, where he finished his career with five Davidson records and was ranked fourth nationally in scoring for Division 1-AA in his senior season, Howell '94 continued as an assistant coach with his alma mater.
After a graduate assistantship in strength and conditioning with the University of North Carolina Tar Heel football team, and an internship with the scouting department of the Carolina Panthers, he played both semi-professionally in Charlotte and internationally in Sweden.
Then, with his playing days behind him, he became the head strength and conditioning coach for the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe.
And now, after finishing his seventh season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Indianapolis Colts, Howell is a World Champion.
Sure, Super Bowl XLI will go down as the one where Peyton Manning got his ring. But Richard Howell got one, too. Or at least he will sometime this spring.
And while Howell's journey from Wildcat to World Champion is anything but textbook, it is proof that working hard and following your dreams really can pay off in the end.
Or is it the beginning? Howell, whose name is still scattered throughout the Wildcat record book, is just 34, after all, and has experienced success on every level.
Or has he?
Howell, who graduated from Davidson with a degree in biology, lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Alexis and Jacob. Recently I spoke with him over the phone.
Of course this is the most obvious of questions, but let's get the big stuff out of the way first, and we'll go from there. How did it feel to actually be at the Super Bowl?
A dream come true. It was really and truly amazing. Anybody involved in sports will tell you that growing up you dream of playing in that big game. So to actually have the opportunity to be in that game is just a dream come true. It was awesome just to get there.
What was the scene like in Miami?
I guess one thing I told most people is that there is a lot of stuff going on with all the festivities. So you try to enjoy some of that stuff because you might not have the chance to go back, but at the same time, it was also just work for us. When we were out on that field, we had to treat it like any other game.
That can't have been all that easy to do ...
Well, the real excitement started to set in after the game. When we got to see and hold the Lombardi trophy. And then to get to share that with our family and friends and the team owners, it was really special.
I read a little about the team's arrival back in Indianapolis. It sounded pretty exciting.
When we came back home, it was probably minus ten degrees outside, but you would have never known it. From the looks of the place, you would have thought that we were having a game that day. The stadium was truly packed, and a lot of those fans waited probably three hours. The whole town was just really excited, and it was so wonderful to share that with family and friends.
We started at the end of the story, but take us back to the beginning. How did you end up on the sidelines at the Super Bowl?
After Davidson, I still had aspirations to play football. There were a couple of NFL and CFL teams that allowed me to try out, but nothing really worked out. The arena league team in town, I think it was called the Charlotte Rage ... I guess you could say we dated each other for a while, but it didn't really stick. I ended up playing in a semi-professional league with the Charlotte Blast. It was an opportunity for me to keep playing and learn a new position. I played quarterback at Davidson, but I learned the wide receiver and defensive back positions. And then that following summer, I ended up going over to Sweden. It was a great opportunity for me to live in another country and experience another culture.
That must have been exciting. What brought you back?
I was playing in a small league, and I knew in order for me to really make it as a player, I had to do it in the U.S. I tried out with some arena league teams, but nothing really worked out. At the time, Coach (Tim) Landis (1993-1999) was the head coach at Davidson, and he allowed me to stay on as a coach. So I would spend the fall and winter helping with recruiting and assisting, and then he allowed me to train and pursue a professional career in the spring. It really worked out well.
How, then, did you end up working in strength and conditioning?
I was a biology major at Davidson. I did all the pre-med stuff and took the MCAT, but I just never had a burning desire to go that route. I spent four years in all coaching in Davidson, but I didn't really want to coach either. I decided it was time to grow up and be an adult, and during my coaching years at Davidson, I was assigned to handle the strength and conditioning for the football team and for some of the other teams, and I really started to enjoy that part of it.
Do you still follow the Wildcats?
Oh yes, always have and always will. Davidson holds a very special place in my heart. And I definitely have followed pretty closely the past couple of years. I coached with (head coach) Tripp (Merritt), and he and I were roommates when I was there. I helped recruit a couple of those players, so I do keep up with the Wildcats. They had a great year.
Oooh ... Any good Coach Merritt stories you'd like to share?
(Laughing). Ask Tripp some time about how he almost drowned me out at Lake Norman with his dog. I was almost a dead man. Tripp's a great guy. I love him to death, and I'm excited for him and how the team is doing.
I saw in your bio that you spent some time in Chapel Hill. I spent some time there, too.
Oh, really? When were you there?
I graduated in 2004. Let's call them the Julius Peppers years.
Okay, yeah. My last year at Carolina was his freshman season. I went to Carolina to work on my graduate degree in exercise science and to experience athletes at that level. I spent 1998 and 1999 as a graduate assistant there, and then in the summer of '99, I got the opportunity to go over to the NFL Europe and work with the Barcelona Dragons as a strength and conditioning coach. It was a great way to get to see the world for free and to work with athletes on an even higher level.
And then you ended up in Indianapolis as a World Champion. That's quite a tale really and a dramatic ascent.
Yeah, you're right. For me, it happened very quickly. I was a young man when I first got here (Indianapolis). There are others who move up much more slowly, but I have been very blessed.
How have you liked living in Indianapolis?
Indianapolis is a great city. I tell people that it is kind of like having Charlotte up north, without all that traffic. The people are very friendly, and it's a great place to raise a family. The city is big enough so that there is a lot going on socially, but it is not so big that we have traffic and crime on every corner. And the location is pretty good, because we are close to plenty of other big cities.
So after everyone asks about the Super Bowl, they probably ask this, but how is it working with Peyton Manning? You have to give the people (okay, me) what they want ...
First, you are a little star-struck, but everything you hear about him is completely true. You would want your sons and daughters to have a lot of his characteristics. He is a great member of the community, and he is completely focused on football. Everything that you hear about that, about his preparation and his work ethic, it's completely true. When it is time for him to do his work, he is going to do his craft the best he can.
Having worked with athletes on all different levels, what separates somebody like Peyton Manning from the rest?
I think there are three things that make great players great. They are good at what they do, first of all, because of God-given ability. They also have passion for the game; they love what they do and are passionate about it. Third, they work extremely hard, and that's what separates them from the other guys in this league. Peyton is a good guy with a good sense of humor, but he works hard, and he makes everyone around him better.
Would you say the same is true of Tony Dungy?
With Tony, what you hear is true times a hundred. Sometimes you can't believe everything you hear, but with Tony everything you hear is true. I have learned so much from him. I was here first with Jim Mora, and in this league, you never know what a new coach will do with the personnel. But when Tony first got this job, he told the (team) president, the paper, everyone that first in his life is God and his faith, and then comes his family, and then it's football. And that's not just what he thinks and says, but that's the way he lives, and that's the way he encourages us to live. If something comes up with your family, you go ahead and take care of it. Family comes before football. He says it, and he believes it. This world that we live in says nothing should come before your job. Tony recently said that most people probably wouldn't have gotten hired for his position with his philosophy, but he's very successful. God has been very faithful to him because he's been faithful. He's one of the best in the business.
So what comes after a Super Bowl ring? Disney World?
(laughing) A couple more rings? With this business, I'm just happy to have a job. Eventually, I would love to be a head guy somewhere, and I'd love to stay in the NFL. I've kind of gotten used to this league, and I would like to stay here, but who knows.
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