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Mobile), March 25, 1909. He spent his early days on the farm playing mostly cow pasture baseball because there were not enough boys around the community for a football team. Howard said he left Barlow Bend walking barefoot on a barbed wire fence with a wildcat under each arm.
He graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile where he played football, baseball and basketball; and served as president of both the junior and senior classes.
After finishing Murphy, Howard entered the University of Alabama on an academic scholarship provided by the Birmingham News in the fall of 1927, and the 185 pounder played reserve guard his sophomore year. During his junior year he started every game but two, as an ankle injury sidelined him for the two games he missed. Again his senior year he was a regular.
Howard was president of the freshman class at Alabama, was member of Blue Key and president of the "A" Club. After coming to Clemson, he married former Anna Tribble of Anderson, S.C., August 23, 1933. They were the parents of a daughter Alice (Mrs. Bobby McClure of St. Paul's, N.C.) and a son, Jim. The Howards also had three grandchildren.
Jimmy followed in his dad's footsteps as a football player, only at a different position. The son was regular fullback on the local high school (Daniel) team for three years and was a halfback-fullback for three years on the Clemson varsity. Jimmy gained over 1,400 yards his senior year in high school and scored over 100 points. He graduated from Clemson in June, 1964 with honors, and earned his masters degree in horticulture from Clemson in 1967. Today he is district entomologist with the Plant Pest Regulatory Service at Clemson.
Following his retirement, Howard was active in other endeavors. He served as state chairman of the South Carolina Heart Fund drive, and was roasted several times on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and was active in selling the Kickoff Publication out of Knoxville, TN. Howard still had his hands in football as he served as the chief recruiter for the Gray squad in the annual Blue-Gray game in Montgomery, AL. The Blue squad recruiter was Don Faurot, who opposed Howard in the 1949 Gator Bowl.
Howard was also inducted into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame in San Francisco, CA, was an honorary member of the National Athletic Trainers Association, and was a member of the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Clemson University also honored Howard once more with the presentation of the Clemson Medallion, which is the highest public honor bestowed by the university to a living person who exemplifies the dedication and foresight of its founders. He was inducted into Clemson's Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium in 1994. |
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