Kusanti Abdul-Salaam, birth name Andy Colbert, (born March 29, 1975) is a former

Arena Football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

wide receiver/ defensive back who played for the

Portland Forest Dragons Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oklahoma Wranglers The Oklahoma Wranglers were a professional arena football team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were members of the Central (1996–1997) and Western (1998–2001) Division of the American Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). The ...

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

and

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

. He played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Highschool

Kusanti attended John Muir High School. He lettered in football where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and defensive back, track where he was a sprinter and hurdler, and basketball where he played point guard. He received a full scholarship to UCLA.

Name change

After a 35–17 loss to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Andy Colbert changed his name to Kusanti Abdul-Salaam due to his conversion to the Islamic faith. The name literally means: "He that is servant of Allah, with peace and salvation."

Post career

After college Abdul-Salaam went to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

to play professional football. In Denmark he played Runningback, Wide Receiver, and Defensive Back.

Portland Forest Dragons

Kusanti played for the Portland Forest Dragons in 1999.

Oklahoma Wranglers

Kusanti played with former UCLA teammate kicker Chris Sailer.

Georgia Force

In 2001, Kusanti was the pick in the 2nd round of the 2001 Arena Football League dispersal draft by the

, a new franchise team that year.

Personal

Kusanti graduated with a B.A. in history. He works as a barber and also provides home health care for the handicap. He is currently working to become a professor in history. In 2008, he began coaching for the Pasadena Polytechnical School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul-Salaam, Kusanti 1975 births Living people American football wide receivers American football defensive backs UCLA Bruins football players Portland Forest Dragons players Oklahoma Wranglers players Tampa Bay Storm players Georgia Force players Players of American football from Pasadena, California