By Lucien Fong –
He didn’t start playing football until age 16, but now Ahmed Hassanein is on the verge of entering the NFL.
“All glory to Jesus Christ; he’s the true champion,” the former Muslim told the press after a stellar performance in the Fiesta Bowl. “He changed my life. I did not know God until I got to Boise State.”
At age 6, Ahmed was taken to Egypt by his dad and raised Muslim. At first he didn’t know any Arabic, but later he forgot all his English – to the extent that when he returned to the U.S. at age 16 he couldn’t speak a lick of English.
His parents separated. His mom was very abusive, he says. Despite the difficulties, his dad took back in his mom. It wasn’t good for Ahmed. He became rebellious. He fought in schools and got expelled over and over.
When his older brother came to visit and saw the straits Ahmed was in with his behavior and his attitude, he offered to take him back to America and finish raising him. Ahmed was an American citizen, having been born in American territory.
Ahmed wanted a new start on life too. His brother had played football and started teaching the sport to him.
He was fascinated.
His brother got him into football camps. Ahmed watched YouTube videos to figure out how to dominate at camps. It worked. He was a natural athlete and started getting noticed.
His brother, a Christian, also took Ahmed to church. Ahmed was taken aback by the singing. In Islam, they don’t sing at mosque. They do prayers, listen to a preaching. Everything is serious. There’s not flowing, enjoyable music.
He got accepted to Boise State, where he excelled at defensive end. As Sports Illustrated said, he didn’t choose violence, violence chose him. He had to fight for himself in Egypt. After that, killing opponents on the field came easy. In 2023, he made 53 tackles.
Even though the Boise Broncos lost the Fiesta Bowl, Ahmed stood out with a sack and six tackles against Penn State. It turns out he prayed to serve Jesus well – right on the gridiron. “Please use me,” he told God. “I wanna be your guy.”
Boise State lost, but Ahmed won. “I had the best game of my life,” he says.
His highlights prompted a press conference, at which he highlighted Jesus.
“Jesus Christ is the only true God,” he declared on national TV. “He died and rose from the dead three days later.”
Not everybody was happy. Muslims – who know that the Koran proscribes death for apostates – threatened his life.
“I’ve been called names,” he says very blasé. “Sometimes there are threats. I’m ready to die for Jesus.”
About this writer: Lucien Fong is a student at the Lighthouse Church School in Santa Monica.
