James Lee Howell was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach for the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. Howell was born in Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 and played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 at the University of Arkansas

Arkansas Razorbacks

The Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the names of college sports teams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The term Arkansas Razorbacks properly applies to any of the sports teams at the university. The Razorbacks take their name from the feral pig of the same name...

. He was drafted

NFL Draft

The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

 by the Giants in the 1937 NFL Draft

1937 NFL Draft

The 1937 National Football League Draft was the second draft held by the NFL. The draft took place December 12, 1936, consisting of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections two of which would later become members of the Professional Football Hall of Fame...

 and played wide receiver

Wide receiver

A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 and defensive back

Defensive back

In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...

 from 1937 to 1947. After his playing career, he was head coach for Wagner College

Wagner College

Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...

 football.

Howell took over the team as head coach in 1954 from a popular fan, media and player favorite Steve Owen. Howell quickly hired Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi

Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...

 as his offensive coordinator and shortly after converted Tom Landry

Tom Landry

Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...

 from player to defensive coordinator. From 1954 to 1960, the Giants played in three NFL Championship Games, defeating George Halas

George Halas

George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...

’s Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in 1956 by the score of 47-7.

During Howell’s seven seasons as head coach, he earned a career 53-27-4 record, with a .630 winning percentage. He drafted and coached a roster of stars including six future Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

rs, Sam Huff

Sam Huff

Robert Lee "Sam" Huff is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982....

, Andy Robustelli

Andy Robustelli

Andrew Richard "Andy" Robustelli was an American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. He played college football at Arnold College and was drafted in the nineteenth round of the 1951 NFL Draft...

, Rosey Brown

Rosey Brown

Roosevelt "Rosey" Brown, Jr. was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the New York Giants from 1953 to 1965....

, Emlen Tunnell

Emlen Tunnell

Emlen Lewis Tunnell was an American football player. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants, and was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1967. He played in the National Football League for the Giants and Green Bay Packers...

, Frank Gifford

Frank Gifford

Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....

 and Don Maynard

Don Maynard

Donald Rogers Maynard is a former American football player who played collegiately for Texas Western College and professionally with the National Football League's New York Giants and the American Football League's New York Jets and the World Football League's Shreveport Steamer.After having been...

. Although his conservative, defensive style was unpopular with the fans and NY media, the Giants' success on the field was more satisfying. Several other players from this era went on to become head coaches and broadcasters.

Howell played and coached in an era when football went from a relatively simple game to one of great complexity with schemes, formations and playbooks designed to deceive as much as over power. With future Hall of Fame coordinators Lombardi and Landry, Howell’s job was frequently to play the diplomat within his own team. Rivalries and feuds were legendary.

Howell stayed with the team as Director of Player Personnel until his retirement in 1981. He returned to Arkansas and served in the state legislature. He died on January 4, 1995 in Lonoke, Arkansas.

See also

• History of the New York Giants (1925-1978)