STORRS, Conn. — Fifteen years later, Oct. 18, 2009, remains the darkest day in UConn football history.
Just after midnight, star cornerback Jasper Howard was stabbed to death outside the UConn Student Union after attending the university’s homecoming dance.
The sudden, tragic murder of a rising athlete and popular student shook the campus to its core. The entire state paused, and Howard’s death became a top story nationally.
Howard, a junior from Miami, chose to attend school in Storrs in part to escape the dangerous surroundings he was accustomed to growing up. As the first person in his family to attend college, it was unthinkable that the football star’s life could be taken in the very center of UConn's rural campus.
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, appeared to be memorable for all the right reasons. In the homecoming game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, UConn exercised old demons by handedly defeating the Louisville Cardinals 38-25, advancing to 4-2 at the season’s halfway point.
Howard emerged from being a defensive replacement and special teams player on the 2007 conference co-champion Huskies as a freshman into one of the Big East’s most explosive punt returners and a critical part of the UConn defense in 2008. That season, as a cornerback, he recorded 60 tackles, a forced fumble and three interceptions while causing opposing teams headaches on special teams. As a sophomore, Howard returned 51 punts for 306 yards and a touchdown.
He picked up where he left off in 2009 as a junior. The Louisville game was arguably the best of his career. Against the Cardinals, Howard recorded a career-high 11 tackles and forced a fumble, as the Huskies plowed their way to a major victory. Through the season’s mid-point, Howard recorded 35 tackles. He was on pace to set a career high that season, and his NFL potential looked promising.
It was time to celebrate, and that evening was the homecoming dance in the Student Union. Sadly, the night would be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Investigators at the time noted that a fight over a woman, or a comment made towards a woman, resulted in an altercation between a group of UConn football players and several individuals who did not attend UConn but were on campus for the dance.
Howard was stabbed once and died from the wound. Head coach Randy Edsall was called to the hospital, where he identified Howard’s body.
In an ESPN article, Edsall described the situation he’ll never forget.
“I was devastated. As I stood over Jazz, I prayed for all the people his life touched,” Edsall said. “There aren’t words to describe the emotions that took over at that moment.”
According to ESPN, the altercation and stabbing occurred after someone pulled a fire alarm during the dance in the Student Union that was attended by hundreds of people.
The confrontation between a group including Howard and a group including Johnny Hood, of Hartford, and John Lomax III, of Bloomfield, happened outside the Student Union, as punches were thrown. One UConn football player, Brian Parker, suffered a minor stab wound during the initial event.
The group of football players, including Howard, reportedly walked to a spot near Gampel Pavilion, less than 50 yards from the Student Union, while Lomax and another man went back to their car and retrieved weapons.
Several minutes later, another fight broke out in front of Gampel Pavilion. ESPN reports that witnesses said Howard swung his fist at Lomax, who then slashed Howard, cutting an artery in his abdomen.
Howard was said to have run across the street yelling, “They got me,” before collapsing. He died not long after.
Hood was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police, while Lomax was charged with murder. He later pleaded no contest to first-degree manslaughter and was eventually sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
In the days following the tragedy, the UConn campus rallied to remember Howard for the difference he made both on and off the field. It was soon after announced that Howard’s girlfriend was pregnant, but Howard would never get to meet his child.
The season appeared to take a turn for the worst, as UConn football lost three consecutive games at the last second in gut-wrenching fashion to West Virginia, Rutgers and Cincinnati. The crushing 47-45 loss to the No. 5 ranked Bearcats was rock bottom.
After a bye week, the season took a turn for the better, as players carried Howard’s jersey with them to every game. On Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, UConn did the unthinkable and beat Notre Dame in South Bend 33-30 in double overtime.
For the rest of the season, UConn refused to lose. With victories over Syracuse and South Florida, the Huskies were selected to the PapaJohns.com Bowl, where they dispatched South Carolina 20-7 on Jan. 2, 2009.
Howard would not soon be forgotten. The team kept his locker as it was for through the remainder of the 2010 season, after which Howard would have graduated. When the Huskies appeared in a BCS bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, following the 2010 season, many dedicated the tremendous accomplishment to Howard.
Today, Howard is remembered in Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, where a statue of his No. 6 is on display.
Not a fall goes by where UConn Nation doesn’t remember a player and human being who was taken from its ranks too soon. Jasper Howard will forever be a UConn Husky.
“You have to play each play like it’s the last play you’ll ever play,” UConn defensive back Jasper Howard after a victory against Louisville on Oct. 17, 2009, hours before his death.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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