04 Dec 2024 501 Hometown Hall of Famers: Jim Lee Howell
By David Grimes
This is the first in a series of articles about the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) inductees from the 501.
The ASHOF museum is located inside Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.
The initial ASHOF banquet was held in downtown Little Rock at the old Hotel Marion. That once-grand venue was razed in 1980 to make way for a new development that included the Excelsior Hotel, which later became the Peabody and is now a Marriott. Also constructed was the adjoining Statehouse Convention Center, which would later host several ASHOF induction banquets
For this first profile, we feature an inductee from the very first class. In 1959, Jim Lee Howell was part of the inaugural group of ASHOF selections, along with Bill Dickey, Ivan Grove, Wear Schoonover and Hazel Walker.
Howell was born in Lonoke in 1914. He grew to 6’5” and 210 pounds and attended the University of Arkansas, where he played both football and basketball.
Playing for basketball coach Glen Rose, Howell earned varsity letters in 1934, 1935 and 1936. As a guard, he helped the Hogs win Southwest Conference regular season championships in 1935 and 1936 and was named All-SWC in 1936.
That 1936 team finished 24-3. The NCAA Tournament that has become a fixture each March was not yet in existence, but this Razorback squad had a chance to qualify to represent the United States in the Summer Olympics, where basketball was an official sport for the very first time. However, the Hogs fell just short of making the trip to Berlin.
On the gridiron, Howell played receiver and defensive back and lettered in 1933, 1934 and 1935. Howell had the opportunity to play in the NFL when he was signed by the New York Giants in 1937. He remained with the team until 1947, but like many professional athletes of the era, Howell put his career on hold during World War II, missing three seasons while serving in the Marines.
Howell maintained ties to home during his playing days, returning during the offseason to help run the family farm. He even got elected in 1940 to the Arkansas House of Representatives for Lonoke County, serving one term.
During his career, Howell played 72 games, hauling in 61 catches for 921 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was a part of the Giants team that won the NFL championship in 1938.
In 1947, Howell was named head football coach at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. After seven seasons he returned to the Giants, where he would enjoy great success as head coach from 1954 to 1960.
His Giants won the NFL Championship in 1956, crushing the Chicago Bears 47-7, and Howell was named NFL Coach of the Year by the Sporting News. He coached several future Pro Football Hall of Fame players, including running back Frank Gifford and linebacker Sam Huff. But it was the coaching staff he assembled that really stood out.
Running the offense for the Giants was Vince Lombardi, and heading up the defense was Tom Landry. Both men would go on to win two Super Bowls each, Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers and Landry with the Dallas Cowboys. Both also have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 1958, the Giants made a return trip to the NFL title game, but came up just short, losing 23-17 to the Baltimore Colts. Often called “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” it was the first NFL playoff game to be decided in sudden-death overtime. Many consider this the key game that helped popularize pro football in America, due to its dramatic finish that was broadcast to a national audience by NBC during the early days of television.
Howell’s career record with New York was 55-29-4, and his winning percentage is among the best in NFL history. After his retirement from coaching he remained with the Giants organization, serving as Director of Player Personnel and in other various roles until his retirement in the 1980s.
Howell has been inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Wagner College Athletic Hall of Fame and the New York Giants Ring of Honor. He passed away in 1995 in Lonoke at the age of 80.
