Deep Creek grad keeps churning out the hits

For a neat freak, George Howard sure enjoys making a mess on the football field.

Howard has been known to shower two or three times a day, gets his hair trimmed just so once a week and never had to be told to straighten his room as a child.

"You'd never know he was a football player by his demeanor," said his father, George Sr. "Something happens to him when he gets on the field, though."

"That cat," said David Cox, Howard's former coach at Deep Creek High, "will hit anything."

The mild-mannered-to-maniacal transformation takes place each time Morgan State's Howard, a middle linebacker who leads the MEAC and is third in the nation in tackles, straps on a helmet and pads.

It always has.

"He always loved to hit," the elder Howard said.

At Deep Creek, Cox heard Howard before he ever saw him. Cox was leaving a varsity practice one day when he walked by some freshmen doing tackling drills. The clash of pads caused him to turn his head.

"He about killed a kid," Cox said.

At Louisburg Junior College, Howard roamed sideline-to-sideline "knocking the crap out of people," Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley told the Baltimore Sun. "I said, 'Let's hurry up and get him.' "

So they did. After finishing second on the team in tackles as a junior last year, Howard has taken his game to another level with 100 tackles heading into Saturday's game against Norfolk State.

No one else on the Bears has more than 54. No one else in the conference has more than 76.

Howard, 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, credits Morgan State's defensive linemen for keeping blockers off of him, allowing him to make plays.

"They take on a lot of big guys and protect me a whole bunch," he said.

As for his taste for contact, Howard credits his brother Jamaal, five years older, who also played at Deep Creek.

"He never took it easy on me," Howard said. "He made me tough."

Howard's toughness has never been in question.

"Running backs didn't want to run his way in high school," said NSU safety Josh Anderson, who played with Howard at Deep Creek.

"Punishing tackler" and "lights-out hitter" are a couple of the phrases used to describe him in the Morgan State media guide.

Add "student of the game" to that resume this season. Howard watched more film than ever last summer and also worked on his strength and quickness.

The work paid off immediately. Howard made eight tackles in the opener at Akron, 17 the next week against Winston-Salem State, 18 vs. Towson and 17 again vs. Bethune-Cookman.

Howard said he is anticipating plays better and being more patient reading his keys.

Hill-Eley said Morgan State is just glad to have him for three more games. Saturday is senior day at Morgan State.

"It's been a good year so far," Howard said. "I'm just trying to finish strong."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com