Mustafah Jaleel Muhammad (born October 19, 1973, as Steve Wilson) is a former award-winning football player in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, who later played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, and was a high-profile criminal, being convicted of domestic battery.

Playing career

Muhammad played his college football at several schools, including

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, Shasta Junior College and

Chaffey Junior College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

. He took the CFL by storm in 1998, playing 17 games for the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

and intercepting a league leading 10 passes. He was an all star and won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and the ...

. He played the next two seasons (1999 and 2000) with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the NFL, where he played 24 games over two seasons, most notably intercepting one pass and returning it 40 yards for a touchdown. He resurfaced in 2002 with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

Legal trouble

Muhammad's pregnant wife, Nichole, died on November 7, 1999, losing her baby. It became publicly known that Steve Muhammad had been arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery on his wife on October 28, 10 days before her death. Though cleared of any wrongdoing in her actual death, Muhammad was unable to refute testimony from his six-year-old stepson, and was convicted November 8, 2000, of one count of domestic battery for beating his pregnant wife. "I wanted to stop daddy from hurting my mommy," Eric testified. Judge Evan Goodman sentenced Muhammad to one year in jail, which he suspended, and to one year's probation. He also ordered Muhammad to undergo 12 weeks of domestic violence counselling and to perform 32 hours of community service.

References

Steve Muhammad story on CBC online.
African-American Muslims American Muslims 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Riverside County, California BC Lions players Indianapolis Colts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Players of American football from California Converts to Islam Fresno State Bulldogs football players American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs {{defensiveback-1970s-stub