Raiders owner Al Davis was so eager to sign Super Bowl MVP
Desmond Howard that he agreed to the biggest contract ever for
an NFL return man—four years, $6 million, including $2.2
million in signing bonus and salary this year—hoping that
Howard would also develop into the quality receiver that he had
failed to become with the Redskins, the Jaguars and the Packers.
The results? Brutal. Howard is 20th in the league in kickoff
returns (22.8-yard average) and 20th in punt returns (8.8
yards). "We're two blocks away [from breaking it] or sometimes
one," Howard says. Of course, two blocks on returns are a lot.
As a receiver? Howard is the team's fifth wideout and didn't
catch his first pass until a Nov. 2 game against the Panthers.
For the Packers last year, Howard returned 58 punts for a
league-record 875 yards (a 15.1 average) and had only 16 fair
catches. This season, through 10 games, he has returned 21 punts
for 185 yards, with 16 fair catches.
The numbers aren't so much an indictment of Howard's ability as
they are of the Raiders' special teams, of Davis's foolish
spending and of the organization's scouting reports, which said
Howard could be a threat as a receiver even though
offensive-minded coaches Joe Gibbs, Norv Turner, Tom Coughlin
and Mike Holmgren had failed to make him one.
Issue date: November 17, 1997
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