Remembering Jasper Howard
Jasper Howard, better known as “Jazz”, will always be remembered for his hard work and determination. Howard, who was 20, was fatally stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sanctioned dance at the Uconn Student Union, just after 12:30 am. The stabbing occurred just hours after Uconn’s 38-25 homecoming game win over Louisville. Jazz had a career high 11 tackles in the game while making the biggest play of the game, forcing a fumble when Louisville was threatening to score in the third quarter with Uconn up 21-13.
Howard’s funeral will be at 11. a.m. Monday at New Birth Baptist Church in Miami, his hometown. A viewing will be held on Sunday at the city’s Richardson Mortuary. An autopsy showed that Howard was killed by a single stab to his abdomen. Howard’s death is being ruled as a homicide.
The Connecticut Huskies are getting plenty of support in the tough times that they are going through from the NCAA, fans, and other College Football teams. The Huskie’s football team was greeted before getting onto the bus by every Huskie team on campus. West Virginia had a moment of silence before the game while wearing the #6 on their helmets. The Huskies wore “JH” on the back of their helmets. The two teams exchanged handshakes before the games with Bill Stewart giving Connecticut’s Randy Edsall a hug. Uconn running back Andre Dixon and wide receiver Kashif Moore carried Howard’s #6 jersey and helmet from the locker room onto the field while getting a standing ovation from the entire stadium. Dixon’s and Moore’s status for playing was questionable due to the private manner. Moore held Howard in his arms after being fatally stabbed. Michael Smith tried to apply pressure to the wound.
Clemson starting corner back Chris Chancellor will wear the change his number to #6 for his game against Miami, where they grew up together. Chancellor is a former high school teammate of Howard who played football and ran track with one another at Miami Edison Senior High School. Boston College’s junior cornerback Deleon Gause, who played against Howard in high school and later became friends with him, will also wear the #6 in honor of Howard.
One person has been charged in connection with the fight. Johnny Hood, 21, was pointed out on scene by sophmore wide receiver, Brian Parker, who was also stabbed but just slightly hurt. Parker has been released form the local hospital. Hood has not been charged with Howard’s death nor identified him as a suspect.
Henry Williams, Howard’s stepfather, said that the family is confident that the killer will be caught. Williams stated that Howard loved Uconn and considered the team his second family. Fund raisers are in action to help the family of Howard and for Howard’s expected son.
Howard was determined to get out of Miami and start school at Connecticut to make his mother proud. Howard will always be remembered not only for his skills on the field, but his personality off the field with his friends and family. Jazz is gone but he will never be forgotten. Today we are all Huskies. I think that I speak for everyone when I say “R.I.P. Jazz.”