Dana Howard
University of Illinois
Linebacker, 1991-94

• Two-time First Team All-American, earning unanimous honors in 1994.
• Became first player in school history to earn a major national award – the 1994 Butkus Award.
• Two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year remains Illinois' all-time leader in career tackles (595).
• Played for coaches John Mackovic and Lou Tepper.
• Becomes the 12th Fighting Illini player to enter the Hall.

Dana Howard was taking in the Braggin' Rights Game in St. Louis last December when he ran into Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who offered the former Fighting Illini linebacker his congratulations. Howard wondered why.

His family had been in the process of building a new house, so plenty of items had been packed and buried in the immediate shuffle between moves. When Whitman explained to Howard that he had made this year's College Football Hall of Fame class, and that he should have already received a package in the mail notifying him of the honor, Howard headed to his new place and searched for what he had been missing, only to find the memento in the hands of an unlikely suitor.

"I'm scrambling, looking for a package, and my daughter says: 'Dad, there's a package here. I'm going to open it and see what it is,' " Howard said. "I said: OK, all right, cool. She opens it. What is it?

"'Oh, it's just a football. I'll just throw it around.' I said: What is it? She said: 'It says something about the Hall of Fame on it. I'll just throw it around.' I said: You won't be throwing that one around."

It was a long time coming for the 46-year-old Illini legend, who is the 16th player or coach from the Champaign school to make the Hall of Fame. Howard took the road less traveled, as he was one of the few major recruits to join his home state's flagship program and go about building something on his own.

Hailing from East St. Louis, Ill., having attended Illinois and now running a construction company in Belleville, Ill., Howard has been fortunate enough to call one area home for the majority of his life. (Funny enough, he spent some time in the NFL with the Rams and Bears, as well.)

Illinois went 3-1 against Big Ten heavyweight Ohio State during Howard's career, and the program notched one win and one tie against Michigan during that time as well. Howard won the Butkus Award in 1994 as the nation's top linebacker — becoming the first player in school history to earn the honor named for the famous Illini legend who he now joins in the Hall — and he undoubtedly paved the way for teammate Kevin Hardy to win the award the following season.

A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award winner, Howard graduated as the conference's all-time tackles leader (595), and he finished his career with 30 stops behind the line of scrimmage, four picks and a whopping seven fumble recoveries. A four-time All-Big Ten honoree, Howard led Illinois in tackles all four seasons of his career, and all four marks still rank among the school's top 10 single-season tackling performances.

His efforts helped produce three Illini bowl berths, including a shutout win over East Carolina in the 1994 Liberty Bowl. A two-time First Team All-American, Howard earned unanimous honors as a senior in 1994.         

"Just being with the guys," Howard said of his best memories, "and obviously being an understated team because we were Illinois and we played in the Big Ten, and when you thought about the Big Ten, everyone always thought about Michigan, Ohio State, those titans who have been the standard-bearers for the Big Ten forever. And when guys like us who were just hard-nosed guys go through a university like the University of Illinois and we make a name for ourselves — for me it was moreso going to a place to build something."

Howard will officially be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4 in New York City.