Ramiz Ahmed (born July 27, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

kicker who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He signed with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2020 but was released prior to the season. He previously played for the

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in 2022 and currently holds the record for the longest field goal made in USFL history (61 yards).

High school career

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

native, Ahmed originally attended

Faith Lutheran High School Faith Lutheran High School, commonly referred to as Faith or FLHS, was a private high school located in Crystal Lake, Illinois. It was affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and served students of McHenry County, Illinois. The schoo ...

, where he played on the varsity

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team as a freshman. He did not play football until his second year, when he transferred to Bishop Gorman High School and joined their team as a kicker. Ahmed was the starter on the 2013 state championship team, making 6-of-11

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s, 71-of-74 PATs and hitting 67

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

s in 93 attempts.

College career

Ahmed first attended the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

(UNLV) before transferring to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(ASU), though he did not play football at either school. Ahmed transferred again in January 2017, this time to the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

, where he made the Wolf Pack football team as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

. Though he struggled with inconsistency on field goals, Ahmed's powerful right leg caught the team's attention at a student tryout conducted six days before the season opener. "He came out just banging the ball, just destroying it," said special teams coordinator Tommy Perry, who compared his kicks to "a shotgun going off." By this time a junior, Ahmed had to wait a few weeks to get cleared before making his college debut as the Wolf Pack's starting

kickoff specialist A kickoff specialist is a special teams position in gridiron football. They are responsible for kicking the ball in the kickoff. These players tend to have a strong leg, often capable of making touchbacks, and capable of keeping a ball in the boun ...

in their second game against

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

. He recorded three touchbacks in three attempts and was named the team's special teams player of the week for his performance. In total, Ahmed had 28 touchbacks in 55 attempts and earned academic all-conference honors in his first season. During his senior year, Ahmed became the starting kicker. He made 15 of 20 field goals and 40 of 44 PATs.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

On April 17, 2020, he signed with the

as competition for Eddy Piñeiro. On August 11, Ahmed was waived, making Piñeiro the Bears' kicker for the 2020 season.

Pittsburgh Maulers

On March 10, 2022, Ahmed was drafted by the

of the

in the seventh round of the

2022 USFL Supplemental Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released through ...

. In Week 8, Ahmed made a 61-yard field goal against the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

, marking as the longest field goal in USFL history.

Green Bay Packers

On August 14, 2022, Ahmed signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. He was waived on August 30, 2022. He was signed to the practice squad on September 5, 2022. On November 12, 2022, he was elevated to the active roster for the game against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He handled kickoffs as starter Mason Crosby dealt with a sore back, kicking off six times, three of which going for touchbacks. On November 14, 2022, Ahmed was reverted back to the Packers practice squad. On December 31, 2022, Ahmed was elevated to the active roster from the practice squad. During warm-ups for the team's week seventeen game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

Ahmed suffered a groin injury and did not play during the game despite being elevated to once again handle kickoff duties. After the game on January 2, 2023, Ahmed returned to the team's practice squad while the team signed fellow kicker

Matt Ammendola Matt Ammendola (born December 11, 1996) is an American football kicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma State. After going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft, he played for the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, Houston ...

. On January 16, 2023, Ahmed's contract with the team expired.

References

External links

Nevada Wolf Pack bio