Heartbreak Doesn't Lessen Love of 'Jazz'

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- No, way. The universe isn't meant to be this cruel. Time was supposed to stop with 38 seconds remaining on the clock, just this once. Just for Jazz. It wouldn't have healed the broken hearts stretching from Connecticut to South Florida, but it sure would have inspired an outbreak of happy hugs and welcome smiles.

But the ripples generated by the murder of UConn cornerback Jasper "Jazz" Howard travel far beyond a mere game of football, so perhaps this is how it was destined to end, with the scoreboard flashing Rutgers 28, Connecticut 24, with Tim Brown, Howard's best friend from childhood, choking back tears after scoring an improbable, last-second touchdown for the winning side. As much as it hurt the crowd on hand for the Huskies' first home game since Howard was killed -- and "hurt" is a gentle description, because the emotions that overtook Rentschler Field were funereal and raw following Brown's stunning 81-yard TD with 22 seconds left -- there is beauty in how it ended.

And love.

And a friendship that will live forever.

Brown, the Rutgers wide receiver, wears No. 2, a number intended to be a symmetrical shout-out to Howard's No. 6. The two became buddies from the day they met as young kids growing up in Liberty City, a hard section of Miami, where they lived two houses apart. More than just a major boulevard in Liberty City, NW 62nd Street served as a reminder to Brown and Howard of the rough neighborhood they hoped to escape. Classes and practice kept Brown from attending Howard's funeral last Monday, but Brown's family went, and Brown spent the week in a daze, still hoping maybe his old friend might return the text message Brown sent the morning of Oct. 18, upon learning Howard had been killed.

Jazz, let me know you're good. -- Deuce

So imagine what Brown was thinking Saturday afternoon as he sliced through a string of Huskies playing a cover 2 defense, the clock winding down, fans at the stadium known as "The Rent" experiencing simultaneous lock-jaw. The Huskies had scored with 38 seconds remaining, taking a 24-21 lead after a 15-play, 87-yard drive that culminated with Jordan Todman's 2-yard run. Euphoria saturated The Rent.

Then came Brown, breaking through swirling winds and hauling in a catch-and-run pass from Rutgers freshman quarterback Tom Savage that was mostly all run. Brown zipped past cornerback Robert McClain, turned on the jets, slipped by the rest of the UConn secondary, raced 81 yards and crushed tens of thousands of hearts that were only just beginning to mend.

It was the second straight last-gasp loss for the Huskies since Howard's death, again by the same wicked score, and here's where the football gods and goddesses are just plain devious: Howard, more than any other defensive back, might have tackled Brown before he reached the end zone.

"He was the one guy who had the speed, but we'll never know," said Brown, with a bittersweet smile. In a game where he'd finish with 162 yards receiving and two touchdowns, Brown wore both numbers -- his deuce, Howard's 6 -- and had "R.I.P. Jazz" stenciled in eye black.

"I almost felt like his angel wings reached down and flew me to the end zone for a touchdown," Brown said.

"I just went out there and played that game for my friend. He was a special guy to me and I just went out there and dedicated that game to him."

Howard was murdered two weeks ago, only hours after UConn celebrated a Big East victory over Louisville. He was attending a student-sponsored, alcohol-free dance at the campus student union when someone pulled a fire alarm and the crowd poured outside. People began fighting, and Howard, by all accounts a bystander, was stabbed in the abdomen. Some of Howard's teammates held him as he lay dying; he was declared dead a few hours later, after being airlifted to a nearby hospital.

The week that followed turned the UConn campus and community into a puddle of anger and fear. Messages were posted on the Internet, threatening potential witnesses; a UConn student now faces a host of charges relating to those comments. Howard's uncle, a former Miami police detective, helped alleviate the cries for revenge and eventually three suspects were arrested last Monday, fittingly on the day of Howard's funeral.

"We never stop feeling like Jazz is with us, trying to get us through this emotional time," said Kashif Moore, the UConn wide receiver who cradled the dying Howard in his arms that night in Storrs. "His spirit is always with us."


This was meant to be a day to officially pay tribute to Jazz. Signs are normally banned from The Rent but on Saturday every fan received a placard with Howard's No. 6 on it. Thousands of fans dressed in navy blue jerseys with his number, UConn players had a decal with his initials stuck to their helmets and Rutgers players wore a "6" on their headgear. During the pregame celebration, the marching band, also dressed in the ubiquitous No. 6, changed the "O" in the word UConn into a snaking "6." As they led the team onto the field, Moore and running back Andre Dixon carried Howard's jersey and helmet.

Joy and tears engulfed The Rent.

"All we were talking about before the game was how we wanted to win this for Jazz," Dixon said. "We didn't want it to be like last week."

That's when UConn lost on the road, by the same score, 28-24, to West Virginia after a late 56-yard touchdown run by Noel Devine. No matter how it ended, it was a game that reminded you of everything wonderful about sports, beginning with players from both teams embracing before kickoff. Emotion tugged every time the gracious West Virginia crowd cheered for the Huskies, which they never stopped doing. They built a huge poster board that read, "Today We Are All Huskies," which was signed by thousands.

But there was Devine's terrific TD run with 2:10 remaining. And there were the two missed field goals by UConn's Dave Teggart, one of Howard's roommates. What does it mean for one team to twice experience such hard luck on the field, after losing one of their brothers in such awful circumstances?

"I don't know, but I hope I'm never part of something this tragic again. My heart really goes out to those guys," said Savage, the Rutgers quarterback who passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns in his first Big East road game, the final TD one nobody will ever forget. "I know [Brown] was down all week, and he was down during the game, but he just made the play and I'm sure Jazz is proud of him."

If a member of the winning side calls what just transpired "tragic" -- and it was, albeit only in how it relates to the bigger picture of death and loss, which both teams recognize – imagine how the Huskies feel.

They pulled to within 21-17 on Zach Frazer's 32-yard pass to Marcus Easley with just over 10 minutes left. Frazer, the backup quarterback who took over in the first quarter after Cody Endres went down with an injury to his left shoulder, led the Huskies on a pair of fourth-quarter TD drives after they trailed 21-10. (UConn later announced that Endres is likely done for the season.)

At times Frazer looked as if was throwing balls on the wings of a prayer, but he finished with 333 yards and a touchdown, and directed the Huskies on the drive in the last few minutes that appeared to be blessed. It included a stunning fourth-down, 32-yard catch by Moore that brought the Huskies within scoring distance; Todman's scamper from two yards out on another fourth down, with 38 seconds to go, sent The Rent into rapturous bliss.

Brown, Howard's pal from the neighborhood near NW 62nd Street in Liberty City, changed everything, in the seconds it takes to blink six times. They used to talk about escaping the mean streets. Other kids in the 'hood would get lost in self-destructive spirals, or disappear on stretchers, but things were going to be different for Brown and Howard. They would receive scholarships to good universities up north, play ball, earn their degrees and return to a parade of hugs and celebrations in Miami.

There would also be a certain football game on Halloween 2009, between Howard's Huskies and Brown's Scarlet Knights. No. 6 and No. 2, together again. They couldn't wait for the date.

"It would have been a great game for me if I'd had my other friend on the other side," Brown said.

Randy Edsall, the UConn coach whose team has now lost four games by a total of 13 points, all of them after holding second-half leads, admitted he wasn't sure how much adversity one team could take. "We'll just keep fighting," Edsall said. "That's all I know to do."

Perhaps that's the lesson the universe has in mind.