Thomas Howard, Former NFL linebacker, dies in high-speed car crash

Posted on November 28, 2013

Thomas Howard (Source: Wikipedia)

Thomas Howard, 30, died last week after a high-speed car crash near his home in Alameda, Calif.

Howard was recently playing for the Atlanta Falcons, but was released from the team earlier this month.

The Oakland Raiders drafted Howard out of Texas-El Paso in 2006. He played five years for the Raiders.

The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau and spokesperson Dan Hill of the California Highway Patrol said in an interview with USA Today that according to witnesses the incident began when the BMW Howard was seen in was traveling about 100-110 miles per hour.

The witnesses said the driver of the BMW lost control of the car. The car then collided with the rear of a semi-truck. The force of the impact with the truck hurtled the BMW into oncoming traffic where it struck two more vehicles before coming to a rest.

Howard and he driver of the BMW, Zeng Long Liu, 64, of Hayward, Calif., were both pronounced dead at the scene.

After playing the Raiders through 2010, Howard signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played for Cincinnati in 2011 and 2012. Last month he signed with the Atlanta Falcons and was active for two games.

“It is shocking and very sad,” Texas-El Paso athletics director Bob Stull said about Howard on the school’s sports department web site.

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