Senior punter DJ Howard’s dream never came true.
“My whole life, I planned to play college soccer,” he said.
But when his closest offer to play at the collegiate level was at a school in South Carolina, Howard decided to give up his dream and attend Baton Rouge Community College, where he didn’t play any sports. Howard transferred to LSU after a year at BRCC.
During his time at BRCC, he went through “a series of amazing events” which led him back to kicking the ball. But this time, he was kicking the pigskin.
“I had a friend who knew a kicking coach,” he said. “He knew I’d played soccer all my life and I could kick a ball. He said it can’t be that much harder to kick a football.”
The St. Francisville native and his friend went to the field where Howard had once played soccer at West Feliciana Parish High School to practice his kicks.
“It was one of those crazy, God-inspired ideas to play football,” Howard said.
After LSU claimed the 2007 BCS National Championship, Howard decided it was his time to try out for the football team.
“I knew if I was going to do it, I wanted to go to the best university,” he said. “The program was at an all-time high. I knew I had to be at my best and had to have some help from God to get me on here.”
Howard worked for two years on the team before he earned playing time.
“I worked with [senior deep snapper] Joey Crappell and he really took me under his wing,” Howard said. “He spent a lot of time this summer getting me prepared to fill in whatever was needed this year.”
During this season, Howard’s third as a football player for LSU, he finally got his shot at playing time against Northwestern State.
Howard stepped out onto the grass of Tiger Stadium beneath bright lights and 92,405 fans in the Tigers’ 2011 home opener and booted the ball to the Demons’ 8-yard line to start the game.
“It was unreal,” Howard said of his first playing time as a Tiger. “LSU is just such a great dynasty and to be able to contribute was something I really loved.”
Howard finished the game with eight kickoffs for 500 yards, a 62.5-yard average. He also punted in place of injured freshman punter Brad Wing and sent three punts a total of 123 yards, a 53-yard average. Two of his punts were placed inside Northwestern State’s 20 yard line.
Coach Les Miles said he was impressed with Howard’s performance.
“I kind of liked that,” Miles said. “I liked the way he hit it and I felt like he gave us a little something.”
Howard also saw playing time against Mississippi State, where he punted four times for 149 total yards and averaged 58.3 yards on three kickoffs. He split kickoffs with junior kicker Drew Alleman, who averaged 49 yards per kickoff.
Miles said the two players may compete for playing time.
“I think there’s some competition with that in the kicking game,” Miles said. “Certainly in the kickoffs. I think he hit the ball pretty well as a punt, but we’ll have to see how that goes.”
Howard said he’s happy filling in wherever he’s needed.
“Whoever is on the field, we’ve got to perform at our highest,”
he said. “With Drew [Alleman] being nicked, just being able to fill in and let him recover so he can focus on field goals is good.”
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Contact Albert Burford at
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