Husain Abdullah returning to football

[Tribal Warfare]

Husain Abdullah returning to football
By Bill Williamson

Back in the United States after a life-altering experience last fall, Husain Abdullah allowed himself to take a glimpse back at the world he temporarily gave up.

“I’d watch some NFL games on television last November,” Abdullah said. “I missed the game, but I was not upset or sad. I was at peace with what I did. I wouldn’t change it.”

A safety who worked his way from undrafted rookie to starter in Minnesota, Abdullah surprised many in NFL when he hit the pause button on his football career at the age of 27 to fulfill a spiritual and family commitment last year. He is back in the NFL after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in February.

“It was totally worth it,” Abdullah said in a phone interview this week. “It was life changing, energizing and spiritual. ... Now I am back and I feel great about everything moving forward.”

Husain and his brother, former Denver and Arizona safety Hamza Abdullah, made news when they took the 2012 season off to make the Muslim hajj to Mecca in October (their story is chronicled above in an "Outside the Lines" video from last year). The brothers and their parents were gone for 3 1/2 weeks. The focal point of the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, which draws Muslims from around the world, is prayer.

For Abdullah, the experience was all about fulfilling a lifelong spiritual quest. The highlights? Simply being able to pray at the hajj pilgrimage. Asked what he most remembers, Abdullah said: “Seeing Muslims from France, Brazil, Pakistan, all over the world, everyone being together for the same reason. … It was all about asking for forgiveness and guidance.”

Abdullah, who always fasted during the sunlight during the holy time of Ramadan throughout his career, said he had long wanted to take the trip. Last year, he and his family figured since they had the means to do it, they shouldn’t delay the trip any longer. Even though it meant walking away from the NFL, the family decided it was time.

“I couldn’t just ask to leave during the season,” Abdullah explained. “I know I had to take the whole time off leading up to the experience. It was not really a tough decision, because it was something I always wanted to do. I felt the need to go.”

Abdullah admits it did cross his mind that if he left the league on his own, he was risking the chance of never returning. He resumed heavy football training when he returned from his pilgrimage in November and had hopes of joining a team late in the season.

“But teams figured that I missed OTAs and training camp, that I might not be ready,” Abdullah said. “I understood. So I had to wait. It crossed my mind that I wouldn’t get a chance. I was at peace with that. I was so grateful do to something I waited my whole life for.”

Now that he is back in the league, Abdullah is thrilled. He said he is enjoying the NFL experience greatly, even though it’s just the organized team activity season.

“It’s as fun as ever,” Abdullah said. “To get the opportunity to be back is really special. I’ve really enjoyed the entire experience.”

The Chiefs aren’t simply giving Abdullah a chance to put on an NFL helmet one last time before he is cut. The team is high on Abdullah. He was signed shortly after he had a workout in February.

The Washington State product was known as a quality player when he left the game. He started 15 games in 2010 and he started nine games in 2011 in Minnesota before getting injured.

New Kansas City general manager John Dorsey jumped at the chance to take a look at Abdullah. Dorsey was previously in Green Bay and had a strong knowledge of him. He was always impressed by Abdullah’s ability to work his way up the Minnesota roster. Dorsey said Abdullah has been a diligent worker this spring and he expects him to not just compete for a roster spot, but compete for a significant role on the team.

Dorsey looked at Abdullah’s pilgrimage as an impressive feat. He had no worries about Abdullah being away from the game for a season.

“The way he works, you can tell that this is important to him,” Dorsey said. “Anytime you get a chance to get a quality person, you should do it. He is one of the most refreshing guys I know. He is mature beyond his years. He has great self confidence. He is a wise, intelligent, deep guy. He is clearly spiritual and it’s neat thing to have a guy like Husain in our program.”

Abdullah said he plans to make the hajj pilgrimage often in the future. For now, though, he is back to concentrating on football in the fall.

[Mr. Laz]

I guess Allah wasn't enough.

[Ming the Merciless]

hope he doesnt play like Shiite

[Demonpenz]

my camel be pimped out.

[thabear04]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

Is he a FS or a SS?

Think he a FS let's see if Lewis keep his spot.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

My favorire pre-draft signing, bar none. Watch how much ass this mother****er kicks in a Chiefs uni this year.
Posted via Mobile Device

[ptlyon]

I welcome Medulla Oblongata to the team.

P.S. No more pulled pork sandwiches allowed at Arrowhead

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by thabear04

Think he a FS let's see if Lewis keep his spot.

I think our 5th round draft pick is going to challenge Lewis for that, Sanders Commings

Lewis can't cover, can't tackle, can't stay healthy ... only a matter of time before he loses his starting job.

I think we will pull Lewis and run with 3 cornerbacks also ... Flowers,Robinson and Smith.

[Chief_For_Life58]

the oilfields lit up like the eyes of allah. at one moment I swear I could hear my goats screaming for help!

[RunKC]

Remember hearing that he was an above average run defender. Wonder how good he is in coverage?

[BlackHelicopters]

Allah says he is excellent in coverage.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I think he's gonna come in and blow shit up !

[beach tribe]

[Tribal Warfare]

Husain Abdullah, who gave up football to take Muslim pilgrimage, is back in NFL with the Chiefs
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah backpedaled with the receiver, recognized the route, broke on the ball and deflected the pass thrown by rookie Tyler Bray.

Abdullah pounded his hands in frustration at not making the interception. After spending a year away from football while on a religious pilgrimage, Abdullah knows every play counts in his NFL comeback, so he had to be satisfied with merely breaking up the pass.

“To get back out here and to have a second chance, not a lot of people get one,” Abdullah said after one of the Chiefs’ offseason workout sessions this week. “So this is a blessing.”

Abdullah, a practicing Muslim, elected not to return to the Minnesota Vikings last season and instead took his wife, parents and two older brothers on a month-long spiritual journey to Saudi Arabia last October.

The family — including older brother Hamza Abdulla, who spent 2005-11 with the Arizona Cardinals — visited and prayed at the mosques in Mecca and Medina. And before that, when their teams were in training camp, the Abdullah brothers made a 30-city-in-30-day, cross-country road trip in a minivan during the 30 days of Ramadan in July and August.

They spoke and prayed at mosques and performed community service from coast-to-coast and in Canada, even while fasting during Ramadan, something he has done even during football seasons.

“It was a beautiful year, all over,” said Abdullah, 27. “We’d give talks to youth groups, and they’d bounce questions off us like, ‘What’s it like playing in the NFL? … what’s Brett Favre like … ?”

The biggest question, though, was why in the in the prime of his career, did Abdullah make the journey abroad as opposed to waiting until after his playing days were over?

“It was something that weighed heavy on me,” he said. “It’s something Muslims are required to do once in your lifetime, and we didn’t necessarily have to do it then. I see my parents getting a little older and sicker, and I was able to take them … it was a dream for them, and it was a dream for me, and to experience that together was awesome.”

The family followed a pretty simple daily routine in the Saudi Arabia.

“Everything is structured around prayer,” he said. “At 4 or 5 a.m., you wake up and you go pray … you chill, you do whatever you want to do and come back at noon, and you have another prayer. At midday, another prayer. At sunset you have another prayer, and at night time you have another prayer.”

Abdullah, a starter for the Vikings in 2010 and in nine games in 2011, hoped to catch on with an NFL team upon his return, but there were no takers. Part of the reason might have been he missed seven games in 2011 and finished the season on injured reserve because of a concussion.

“Regardless of how confident you are, the NFL is a business,” he said. “I was working out on my own when I got back from Saudi Arabia. I was trying to get on last year, but it didn’t happen. This year I got a chance.”

The chance occurred because Chiefs general manager John Dorsey, a scouting director at Green Bay, remembered Abdullah from the Packers’ two games each year against NFC North rival Minnesota.

Abdullah cracked the Vikings’ roster as an undrafted rookie from Washington State in 2008, led the team with 24 special teams tackles as a rookie, and by 2010, he started 15 games. Abdullah, 6 feet and 204 pounds, intercepted four passes in 2010-11 before he was sidelined.

Abdullah also had an ally in former Vikings head coach Brad Childress, a confidant of new Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who was eventually hired as an assistant coach.

“When I first got here in January, we had not signed any future or veteran free agents who could help us,” Dorsey said of Abdullah. “He was one of the eight or nine players I identified who can begin help build this roster and have a chance to compete for a job.

“He gives you somebody who has played in the NFL, is a really good person. He’s very smart, very spiritual … and he’s good in that locker room. It’s going to fall on his shoulders to compete in training camp and see if he can earn that position.”

Abdullah conceded the layoff has left him a bit rusty, and though he has been working on the second-and third-team defenses, he has worked his way to the first units on several special teams.

“It’s been about a year and a half (away from football), but it’s been a good year and a half,” Abdullah said. “So it’s fun to get back out here. Defensively, I’ve got to re-learn what the offense is trying to do to me because it’s a new system. But as Coach Childress used to say, ‘It’s a man with a man, so you know you can get out there and play right now.’

“And a quality special-teams player definitely has a place in this league.”

Had Abdullah not found a team, or if he doesn’t make it with the Chiefs, he has no regrets about his decision to make the pilgrimage last year.

“It was definitely worth it,” he said. “I was content with the decision, even if I didn’t get it another chance. But I’m only 27 years old, and I want to keep playing football. If I could do it all over again, I would, especially knowing at the end of it the Chiefs would pick me up.

“I love football. I was an undrafted free agent. I wasn’t paraded around. I had to play my way in. So I’m excited for this. But if it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen. There’s life ahead.”

[The Franchise]

Did his brother ever find a team?

[Rausch]

All good points.

My retort: