the backfield by freshman Anthony Thomas who added 549 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. One of the key games in Michigan's 1997 National Championship season was the game against the unbeaten Penn State Nittany Lions, then ranked Number 2 in the nation. Howard rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Nittany Lions, prompting Coach Lloyd Carr to comment: "I think that Chris Howard is a very underrated back. He proved that today." Michigan controlled the game and led 34–0 after 3 quarters behind Howard’s best collegiate performance in terms of yards from scrimmage with 120 yards rushing and 41 yards receiving. The 1997 season concluded with a 21–16 win over Washington State in the January 1, 1998 Rose Bowl. Howard led all rushers in the game with 70 yards rushing on 19 carries. He was also the North MVP for the 1998 edition of the Hula Bowl, an invitational college football all-star game. He rushed for 116 yards on 14 carries and was involved in the culminating score in the North’s second half comeback. He handed off to Joe Jurevicius on a reverse play which ended with Jurevicius passing to Brian Griese for a five-yard touchdown pass. The North would lose, however, when the missed extra point left the door open for a game-winning field goal. Professional career Howard was selected by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, but he had a difficult pre-season with the Broncos in 1998, fumbling five times in two games. The Broncos released him from their practice squad in September 1998, and he was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. At the time, Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin said: "Chris Howard is a young man and he certainly still is developmental. A couple weeks into our system and I think he'll be a guy who can be counted on. But I'm not going to say we're done with our evaluations just yet." Coughlin said of Howard's fumbles with Denver: "It was carelessness. Basically, we'll start from scratch with him fundamentally here." Howard had professional totals of 123 yards rushing on 41 carries and 37 yards receiving on five receptions. In 2000, his final year, he fumbled twice on only 21 carries in the first two games. These were his final two career NFL games. Personal life Chris Howard married actress Gabrielle Union on May 5, 2001.