Erik Howard Named 94th On Giants Top 100 Players List.
To celebrate the Giants’ 100th season, an independent committee of award-winning journalists, NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame executives, and superfans have ranked the Giants’ Top 100 players. Erik Howard secured the 94th spot on their Top 100 List.
Erik Howard, a dominant defensive tackle, played a crucial role in the New York Giants’ success during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Known for his strength and tenacity, Howard anchored the Giants’ defensive line, contributing significantly to their victories
New York Giants Press Release
A 3-4 nose tackle, Erik Howard played the first nine of his 11 seasons with the Giants. He was the second of the team’s four secondround draft choices in 1986, when the first six selections were all defensive players. Howard shared the position with Jim Burt for three seasons before becoming a fulltime starter in 1989. He was an important contributor on the Giants teams that won Super Bowls XXI and XXV, and a starter on the latter team in 1990, when he was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Howard enjoyed a successful introduction to pro football. In his rookie season, the Giants went 14–2, routed San Francisco and Washington in the NFC playoffs, then easily defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. It was the franchise’s first championship in 30 years.
“That’s a case of just lucking out – for me, particularly – because I didn’t really have any concept of what I was stepping into,” Howard said. “It was all sort of surreal, and I was just along for the ride.” Four years later, Burt was playing for the 49ers, and Howard was the starting nose tackle. The Giants traveled to San Francisco for the NFC Championship Game to meet the 49ers, a team hoping to become the first to win three consecutive Super Bowls. “Obviously, we thought we could win, and it was a very close ball game,” Howard said. “But there’s that intangible thing that you feel when you’re a team of destiny.”
Late in the fourth quarter, the Giants trailed, 13-12, when the 49ers picked up a first down on the visitors’ 40-yard line. Another first down or two would have given them the game, and maybe a three-peat. But after running back Roger Craig took a handoff, he was hit by Howard and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Taylor. A few minutes later, Matt Bahr kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired, and the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl.
“I remember that sort of seminal moment before the ball was snapped,” Howard said. “It was a real feeling of desperation. It was a dire situation for us, and I remember thinking prior to the snap, ‘Somebody’s gotta make a play here.’ It was one of those slow-motion moments.”
The following week, the Giants’ defense stifled the high-scoring Buffalo Bills in a 20- 19 upset victory in Super Bowl XXV for their second championship in five seasons.
“We’re always going to be celebrating and remembering those special moments that are going to be with us for the rest of our lives,” Howard said. “You can’t deny history.”