BY MIKE MASTOVICH
NFL rookie LaRod Stephens-Howling already has a nickname on the Arizona Cardinals’ team blogs.
“The Hyphen,” as Stephens-Howling is known, also has another title: NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
The Greater Johnstown High School and Pitt graduate earned the honor on Tuesday based on his performance in the Cardinals’ dramatic
20-17 loss to the surging Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Stephens-Howling returned a kickoff
99 yards for a touchdown, becoming the first Cardinals rookie to return a kickoff for a score since Roy Green in 1979.
He also downed three of Titans punter Ben Graham’s punts deep in Tennessee territory.
Stephens-Howling downed punts at the 5-, 2- and 1-yard lines. Additionally, he collected his team-high 18th special teams tackle this season and finished the game with four kickoff returns for a career-high 167 yards, 41.8 per return.
His big return came after Tennessee’s Chris Johnson’s 85-yard touchdown run had given the Titans a 13-3 lead in the third quarter.
The return pulled the Cardinals within three points in a game Arizona eventually led until a last-second Titans score.
The Cardinals are touting Stephens-Howling as a
potential write-in Pro Bowl candidate because his name is not on the official fan ballot.
