Ahmad Rashad ( ; born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moore before changing his name in 1973. Recruited after high school as a wide receiver by the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, he played for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. He moved to the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

position and was named to the 1971 College Football All-America Team at that position. He became professional after being drafted by the Cardinals. Rashad returned to playing as wide receiver, and played for the Cardinals for two seasons. After being traded to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in 1974, and sitting out the 1975 season with a knee injury, he signed with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

before the 1976 season. They traded him shortly thereafter to the

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

(1976–1982), where he earned four

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

selections from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. Following his retirement from football, Rashad transitioned to television. He worked as a studio analyst, game reporter, and anchor for several sports. Rashad was a panellist on the NFL Live pregame show for NBC, and also notably hosted the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

weekly digest shows ''

NBA Inside Stuff ''NBA Inside Stuff'' is a television program featuring behind the scenes activities of NBA players. The program also includes features on fitness and fundamentals of basketball. The show has had three runs on three different networks: on NBC fro ...

'' (

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

–

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) and ''NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad'' (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

–

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

). He has appeared as a fictionalized version of himself as a television sports personality in several films and television shows. In addition, he has hosted several non-sports related game shows and reality television shows. , he was a member of the digital content team for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, filming videos for their YouTube channel, as well as emceeing events for the team in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

Early life

Born Robert Earl Moore in 1949 in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, he moved with his family to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. There he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

. Rashad graduated from Mount Tahoma High School and accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to the

in Eugene. He played

for the

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

under head coach Jerry Frei, became a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

, and majored in elementary education at Oregon. During his junior year in college, Rashad had legal issues in Portland. He was charged with

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

theft in November 1970. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge, a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

, in early 1971. In 1972, Moore converted from

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. He had started to study Islam in college. A year later, Bobby Moore legally changed his name to Ahmad Rashād, which means "admirable one led to truth" in Arabic. He adopted his last name from his Egyptian-American mentor, biochemist Rashad Khalifa, with whom he studied Arabic. Khalifa was assassinated in 1990.

Football career

At Oregon, Moore played

and wingback as a sophomore in 1969 and made the all-conference team. He moved to running back, where he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

—in the same backfield with

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Dan Fouts. In his final season with the Ducks (1971), he rushed for 1,211 yards, caught 32 passes for 324 yards, and scored 10 touchdowns. He finished his three seasons of college football with 2,036 rushing yards, 131 receptions for 1,565 yards, and 36 touchdowns. At the time Moore left Oregon, his rushing yards, receptions, and 226 points were all school records. Moore was the fourth player selected in the 1972 NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He made the UPI all-rookie team in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, but second-year head coach Bob Hollway was fired after a 4–9–1 season.

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell ( ; October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American American football, football coach. He coached in high school, college, and the professional ranks; his most notable NCAA post was with the San Diego State Aztecs footba ...

was the new head coach in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. He traded Rashad, as he was then known, after that season to the

for backup quarterback Dennis Shaw. In Buffalo, Rashad roomed on the road with

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

in 1974. He missed the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

season after a knee injury in the final pre-season game. Rashad was in the training camp of the expansion

, after signing as a free agent. He was traded days before the start of the

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

regular season, sent to the

for a future draft pick. He failed the Vikings' physical, but was kept on the team due to the actions of quarterback

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He is wi ...

. The Vikings made it back to the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

that season, their last appearance to date. During his professional football career, Rashad caught 495 passes for 6,831 yards and 44 touchdowns, while also rushing for 52 yards. The standout catch of his career came in a December

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer threw a

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with a very small chance of achieving a completion (American football), completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes r ...

to Rashad that resulted in a come-from-behind 28–23 victory and a Central Division title for the Vikings. This became known as "The Miracle at the Met", or, alternatively, "The Miracle Catch". Rashad also has the distinction of the longest play from scrimmage that didn't score a touchdown: 98 yards in a 1972 game against the Rams. Rashad replaced John Gilliam as receiver with both the St. Louis and Minnesota teams. In 1992 Rashad was named to Oregon's Hall of Fame and to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

on May 9, 2007.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Broadcasting and television career

After his football career, Rashad covered NFL,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, and

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

televised contests as a studio anchor and game reporter for NBC and ABC, and hosted ''

'' for 16 seasons. He also has hosted the video-clip show '' Real TV'' in 2000, the reality show '' Celebrity Mole'', the

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

'' Caesars Challenge'' along with co-host Dan Doherty, ''NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad'' on the ABC network, and the first season of

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

's '' Tug of Words''.

Samantha Harris Samantha Harris (born Samantha Harris Shapiro; November 27, 1973) is an American television presenter, model, and entertainment reporter and actress, known as the co-host of seasons two through nine of ''Dancing with the Stars'' with Tom Berg ...

replaced him for the second season of ''Tug of Words''. He starred in an episode of '' Monsters''. Rashad has also guest starred on several TV shows, mainly ones that starred his then-wife Phylicia Allen Rashad. In 1988, he filled in for Robb Weller on the weekend edition of ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'' (then known as ''Entertainment This Week''). He used to interview long-time friend

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

frequently while he was at NBC. In early 2013, he became a panelist on the daily talk show ''Morning Drive'' on the Golf Channel, but left that summer. Rashad has narrated the yearly highlight films for NBA championship teams since 2012. As of May 2021, Rashad now works for the

as a member of their digital content team, making videos for the team's YouTube channel (including sit-down interviews with members of the roster as well as historical retrospectives) as well as emceeing events for the team at

Basketball career

Right before the launch of NBA Inside Stuff in 1990, Rashad, who was 40 years old at the time, signed a two-day contract with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. As the show wanted to use Rashad playing in the NBA as a promotion, he was allowed to practice with the team and play in an NBA preseason game against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

the next day. Rashad was known for his athleticism, as evidenced by him playing multiple offensive positions in his football career. He became a multi-sport athlete, albeit 8 years after his retirement from pro sports. It was the first preseason game ever to be played at the newly built

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, h ...

and was in front of a crowd of 18,296. Many fans came to the game to support Rashad because of his career as a Viking. He was subbed on for Hersey Hawkins and, in the first play of his NBA career, he gave up an and-one shooting foul to Tony Campbell. During an ensuing timeout, head coach Jim Lynam drew up a play for Rashad to run across the baseline for an open look. Rashad knocked down the 20-foot shot and scored the first and only points of his NBA career. Remembering the moment in a voiceover, Rashad was ecstatic, "I definitely replayed this one in my head for quite some time. My teammates set me up on the left side, and when everything was on the line, I nailed it." Rashad was not as good defensively, as he allowed Campbell and the Timberwolves to bring an 11-point deficit down to 5. But the 76ers pulled off a 102–96 win, giving Rashad a perfect record in the NBA, as well as a perfect 1.000 FG%, as he technically made every single shot he ever took. After the game, Rashad's performance was applauded by multiple teammates and coaches, including

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

teammate

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

. He had previously expressed doubts about Rashad, but said that "he made it, and that's all that matters." Rick Mahorn, another teammate, said "What the hell, his two points really made a difference." In a post-game interview, Rashad announced his retirement from the game of basketball, and he was waived from the team.

NBA career statistics

Preseason

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Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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Personal life

Rashad has been married five times and divorced four. He has fathered a total of six children, including a son, Geoffrey Simmons, born to his high school girlfriend Melody Neal. The boy was put up for adoption in 1967. After he turned 18, he contacted his father through Amara (formerly the Medina Adoption Agency) in 2005, and the pair met for the first time. Simmons also had learned that his biological mother, Melody Neal, died from cancer in 1991. In 1969, Rashad married for the first time, to Deidre Waters. They had a daughter, Keva, born in 1970. That year Rashad also fathered a son, Sean, born to another woman. After divorcing his first wife, in 1976, Rashad married his second wife, Matilda Johnson. They had two children together, daughter Maiyisha (born in 1976) and son Ahmad Jr. (born in 1978). They divorced in 1979. In 1985, Rashad married actress Phylicia Ayers-Allen, known for her work on ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

''. He proposed to her earlier that year on national television during the pregame show of NBC's broadcast of the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Day

game, between the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. It was the third marriage for each of them. Rashad gained a stepson Billy Bowles (born 1973 during her first marriage). After a year of marriage, they had a daughter together, Condola Phylea Rashād, named after his mother. In 2001, after nearly sixteen years of marriage, they divorced. In 2007, Rashad married his fourth wife, Nancy Sale Johnson. (She had divorced from Woody Johnson,

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

billionaire heir and

owner). She brought three daughters to the marriage: Casey Johnson (1979–2010), Jamie Johnson (b. 1982), and Daisy Johnson (b. 1987). After Casey died, the couple adopted her daughter (Sale Johnson's granddaughter), Ava-Monroe Johnson (born August 14, 2006). Rashad and Johnson divorced in 2013. In 2016, Rashad married Ana Luz Rodriguez-Paz, a psychologist in South Florida.

References

External links

* Football legend, NBA anchor, and Executive Producer, Ahmad Rashad
Official Website

1972 NFL Draft
– from the Pro Football Hall of Fame *

*

– 1985 marriage {{DEFAULTSORT:Rashad, Ahmad 1949 births Living people African-American game show hosts American game show hosts African-American male actors African-American sports journalists African-American Muslims American Quranist Muslims American football running backs American football wide receivers American male television actors American sports journalists American television reporters and correspondents American television sports announcers Buffalo Bills players College football announcers College Football Hall of Fame inductees American golf commentators Major League Baseball broadcasters Minnesota Vikings players NBA broadcasters National Conference Pro Bowl players NFL announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Oregon Ducks football players Participants in American reality television series Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington Sports Emmy Award winners St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Women's National Basketball Association announcers Converts to Islam from Protestantism Former Pentecostals Muslims from Oregon