Hamza Muhammad Abdullah (born August 20, 1983) is a former

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 wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

in the seventh round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also he ...

. He played college football at

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Abdullah has also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. He is the older brother of former NFL safety

Husain Abdullah Husain Ibn Muhammed Abdullah (born July 27, 1985) is a former American football free safety. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and also played for the Kansas City Chief ...

Early years

Abdullah was raised in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and is one of twelve children in his family. He was raised as a devout Muslim. He attended Pomona High School and played under John Capraro.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Abdullah was drafted by the

in the seventh round (231st overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. He was waived at the end of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

and spent the first two months of the 2005 season on the team's practice squad.

Denver Broncos

On November 1, 2005, Abdullah was signed off the Buccaneers' practice squad to the active roster of the

. Abdullah spent the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Broncos, playing primarily on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and in a reserve role. He started his first career game on November 11, 2007, against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, logging his first tackle against

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

Dante Hall Damieon Dante Hall (born September 20, 1978) is an American former football wide receiver and return specialist who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is nicknamed the "Human Joystick" and the "X-Factor". Hall was a ...

. A

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

in the 2008 offseason, Abdullah signed his one-year tender offer from the Broncos on April 17. He was released by the Broncos on September 23 after the team signed safety

Vernon Fox Vernon Lee Fox, III (born October 9, 1979) is a retired American football safety. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent after the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Fresno State. Fox is currently an or ...

Cleveland Browns

Abdullah was signed by the

on October 6, 2008, after the team waived wide receiver Steve Sanders. He was waived during final cuts on September 5.

Arizona Cardinals

Abdullah was signed by the Arizona Cardinals on December 22, 2009, after

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Ali Highsmith was waived.

Personal life

Hamza, together with his brother Husain, chose to take the 2012 NFL season off in order to make a pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah, Hamza 1983 births Living people African-American Muslims Players of American football from Los Angeles American football safeties Washington State Cougars football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Denver Broncos players Cleveland Browns players Arizona Cardinals players