BuccaneersFan.com • Player Spotlight • Advisory Board
For W.P. Rader, Bobby Howard is a valued friend and a trusted member of the BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board. Their connection began through NFLPA meetings in Atlanta and grew through association events, a Super Bowl watch party and fundraisers. Rader describes Bobby as “a class act”—an individual who shined on and off the field.
Former Buccaneers running back • A friend of the Krewe
A valued place in our football family
Bobby Howard • BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board
- Born
- June 1, 1964 • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Playing position
- Running back • Tampa Bay No. 25
- Listed playing size
- 6 feet 0 inches • 213 pounds
- High school
- Langley High School • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- College
- Indiana University • 1982–1985
- NFL Draft
- Philadelphia Eagles • 1986
Round 12 • No. 325 overall - Buccaneers career
- 1986–1988 • Three NFL seasons
- Our connection
- Advisory Board member and valued friend of W.P. Rader
Football sources: NFL player profile, historical player record, Buccaneers all-time roster and Indiana’s record book. Advisory Board and friendship details are supplied by W.P. Rader.
Sources: NFL career statistics, checked against Pro Football Archives, and Mercer University’s biography.
A personal appreciation from W.P. Rader
The friendship behind this spotlight
Rader met Bobby at NFLPA meetings hosted at the venue Rader managed in Atlanta, Georgia. As that relationship developed, Rader assisted the association with a variety of events, including its Super Bowl watch party and fundraisers. Those shared occasions gave him the opportunity to know Bobby as a friend and to appreciate the person behind the familiar Buccaneers uniform.
Today, Bobby holds a valued place on the BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board. His experience as a former player and his years of community service bring a welcome perspective to a site built around the people and history of Buccaneers football. Rader’s appreciation is personal: he has seen the same class in Bobby’s life away from the field that fans admired during his playing days.
Personal recollection and Advisory Board information: W.P. Rader. Photograph: BuccaneersFan.com archive.
Pittsburgh → Bloomington → Tampa Bay & Atlanta
Three chapters in a life that kept moving forward
Indiana, 1982–1985 Building a college career.
After Langley High School in Pittsburgh, Bobby played four seasons at Indiana. His published guest biography describes a full football scholarship and studies in business administration. On the field, he developed into the Hoosiers’ leading rusher in his final two seasons. His guest biography; Indiana’s rushing leaders.
Tampa Bay, 1986–1988 A Buccaneer in the original orange.
Philadelphia selected him in the 1986 draft and released him before the regular season. He joined Tampa Bay that fall and played all of his NFL regular-season games with the Buccaneers. The club’s historical roster records three seasons and two starts. The original Eagles release report; the Buccaneers record.
LifeLink, 1995–present Putting personal experience to work.
A kidney transplant in October 1994 changed his life. He joined LifeLink the following year, beginning a long commitment to donation education and community partnerships. That work became a major part of his life after football. Mercer University on his path into service.
The Buccaneers years • 1986–1988
Remembering No. 25 in the Tampa Bay backfield
The 1987 opener gave Bobby a memorable afternoon against Atlanta. In Tampa Bay’s 48–10 victory on September 13, he carried 12 times for 47 yards and added a 45-yard reception. His 92 yards from scrimmage included the longest run and catch of his NFL career: 31 yards on the ground and 45 through the air. The historical game record.
He scored twice during his NFL career. The first was a one-yard run at St. Louis on December 21, 1986. The second was a two-yard run at New Orleans on December 6, 1987, the afternoon Vinny Testaverde made his first NFL start. The St. Louis box score; the New Orleans box score; Tampa Bay’s account of Testaverde’s debut start.
His final NFL appearance came against Detroit on December 18, 1988. Final-season game log.
He subsequently moved to Green Bay through Plan B free agency in 1989, but his official regular-season record remained entirely with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers’ free-agent history.
LifeLink • The NFLPA • Community connections
A second chance, followed by years of giving back
Helping others understand donation
Bobby serves as director of LifeLink of Georgia’s Multicultural Donation Education Program. His work connects communities with information about organ, eye and tissue donation, bringing his own experience as a transplant recipient into those conversations. Mercer’s account of his career describes the growth of workplace and community partnerships under his leadership. LifeLink on his role; Mercer’s professional biography.
LifeLink also features him in The Perfect Gift, photographer Johnny Crawford’s project about donors, donor families and transplant recipients in Georgia’s African American community. Bobby appears as one of the people whose life was changed by a transplant. The photographs give the subject of donation individual faces and stories that visitors can carry with them. The story behind the exhibition.
Staying connected to the football family
The NFLPA lists Bobby as president of its Atlanta former-player chapter and a member of its national Former Player Advisory Board. These roles continue his connection with former players and their communities. They are separate from his Advisory Board service here at BuccaneersFan.com. The NFLPA chapter directory; the national advisory board.
His wider service has included leadership of the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation and the Georgia Transplant Foundation, along with board work for the United Network for Organ Sharing and the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. These responsibilities show the range of organizations to which he has contributed over the years. The NFLPA’s service biography.
Pittsburgh beginnings • Four seasons at Indiana
A Hoosier career and recognition along the way
Bobby’s Indiana career culminated in 967 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 1985. The Hoosiers named him their 1985 team MVP. Across four seasons, he gained 1,743 rushing yards and added 600 receiving yards, contributing as both a runner and a receiver before Philadelphia selected him in the NFL Draft. Indiana’s original 1985 statistics; the team MVP record. The annual records are linked with the tables below.
- 1985 — Indiana team MVP. His final college season also made him the team’s leading rusher for a second consecutive year.
- 2016 — Pittsburgh City League All-Sports Hall of Fame. The city’s recognition identifies Bobby with Langley High School football; contemporary coverage records the induction celebration. City of Pittsburgh resolution; coverage of the event.
- 2021 — Circle of Excellence Award. Bobby and Remonia Chapman shared the National Multicultural Action Group’s award recognizing their work in donation and transplantation. The award announcement.
The playing record • NFL and college kept separate
Bobby Howard’s career statistics
Bobby’s NFL record covers 20 regular-season appearances and two starts across 1986–1988. The 1986 total is seven games; his single 1988 appearance is included even though he had no recorded carries, receptions or kickoff returns that year. Sources: NFL participation, the independent historical record, and the Buccaneers all-time roster, printed p. 367.
NFL participation and rushing • 1986–1988
| Season | G | GS | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 7 | 2 | 30 | 110 | 3.7 | 16 | 1 |
| 1987 | 12 | 0 | 30 | 100 | 3.3 | 31 | 1 |
| 1988 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 |
| Career | 20 | 2 | 60 | 210 | 3.5 | 31 | 2 |
G = games played; GS = starts; ATT = rushing attempts; YDS = rushing yards; AVG = yards per carry; LNG = longest run; TD = rushing touchdowns. A dash denotes no applicable average or longest gain because there were no attempts. Career averages are calculated from total yards and attempts; longest gains are maxima, not sums.
Sources: NFL career tables and Pro Football Archives. The Buccaneers season history confirms no playoff appearances in these seasons.
NFL receiving
| Season | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 5 | 60 | 12.0 | 29 | 0 |
| 1987 | 10 | 123 | 12.3 | 45 | 0 |
| Career | 15 | 183 | 12.2 | 45 | 0 |
REC = receptions; AVG = yards per reception; LNG = longest reception. Bobby recorded no receptions in 1988; that year’s appearance remains in the participation table. The career average is 183 ÷ 15 = 12.2 yards per reception.
Sources: NFL career tables and Pro Football Archives.
NFL kickoff returns
| Season | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 4 | 71 | 17.8 | 24 | 0 |
| 1987 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career | 5 | 76 | 15.2 | 24 | 0 |
RET = kickoff returns; AVG = yards per return; LNG = longest kickoff return. Bobby recorded no kickoff returns in 1988. These return yards are separate from rushing and receiving yardage.
Sources: NFL career tables and Pro Football Archives.
NFL postseason: Bobby had no NFL playoff appearances. Tampa Bay did not reach the postseason during his three seasons with the club.
Indiana rushing • 1982–1985
| Season | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 57 | 199 | 3.5 | 39 | 3 |
| 1983 | 85 | 309 | 3.6 | 17 | 3 |
| 1984 | 78 | 268 | 3.4 | 18 | 0 |
| 1985 | 194 | 967 | 5.0 | 59 | 7 |
| Indiana career | 414 | 1,743 | 4.2 | 59 | 13 |
ATT = rushing attempts; AVG = yards per carry; LNG = longest run. The highlighted row is his 1985 team MVP season. Individual games and starts are omitted because the original annual sheets do not establish those counts.
Indiana receiving • 1982–1985
| Season | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 20 | 137 | 6.9 | 20 | 0 |
| 1983 | 22 | 174 | 7.9 | 28 | 0 |
| 1984 | 17 | 120 | 7.1 | 12 | 1 |
| 1985 | 25 | 169 | 6.8 | 14 | 0 |
| Indiana career | 84 | 600 | 7.1 | 28 | 1 |
REC = receptions; AVG = yards per reception; LNG = longest reception. Averages are rounded to one decimal; the 1982 figure is 137 ÷ 20 = 6.85, displayed as 6.9 in the original school record. The college rushing and receiving figures are separate from NFL statistics.
College postseason: Indiana had no bowl appearances during Bobby’s 1982–1985 playing years. Indiana’s bowl history.
With appreciation from Professor Jam and the Krewe
Thank you, Bobby
BuccaneersFan.com is proud to recognize Bobby Howard as a former Buccaneer, an Advisory Board member and a valued friend. For Rader, the NFLPA gatherings and shared events remain part of that friendship. This spotlight is offered with gratitude for Bobby’s time, perspective and the example he continues to set.
Sources & acknowledgments
The records and recollections behind this page
- W.P. Rader’s personal account: the Atlanta NFLPA meetings, association events, Super Bowl watch party, fundraisers, friendship and current BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board membership.
- BuccaneersFan.com archive: the original football collage, action photograph and 2017 Super Bowl group photograph.
- 2026 Buccaneers media guide: all-time roster, free-agent history and season records.
- NFL career statistics and Pro Football Archives: independently checked annual figures. Historical game links appear alongside the corresponding milestones.
- Indiana football record book and the four original annual statistical sheets linked beneath the college tables.
- Mercer University and LifeLink Foundation: his transplant, professional service and participation in The Perfect Gift.
- NFLPA chapter directory and Former Player Advisory Board: current football-association roles and previous community service.
Updated November 3, 2026. NFL tables cover the completed regular-season career; college tables cover Indiana’s original 1982–1985 season records. Current organization roles were checked for this update.