Muhammad set to show Force
Linebacker facing old team tonight
Saturday, May 03, 2008
By Brian Allee-Walsh
Veteran linebacker Umar Muhammad doesn't want his old business to distract him from taking care of new business tonight when the Southern Division-leading VooDoo visits the Georgia Force.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga.
"It's always special for an individual to play against his old team," said Muhammad, who was chosen second-team All-AFL with the Force in 2007. "But for me, it's special in the sense that we want to get to 8-2 and distance ourselves from the rest of the pack in the division.
"There are no hard feelings whatsoever. I have good friends on that team who I still talk to every other week. All the personal stuff is business stuff."
The VooDoo (7-2) holds a one-game lead on the Orlando Predators (6-3) in the Southern Division, with Georgia and the Tampa Bay Storm at 3-5. The Force won the division in 2007 with a franchise-best 14-2 record, due in part to the stellar play of Muhammad, who had a career-best eight sacks and 14 tackles for losses.
It appeared the two would join forces again in '08 when Georgia officials re-signed Muhammad to a two-year contract on Nov. 22. But on Jan 22, team officials abruptly waived Muhammad to make room for rookie offensive lineman Steve Franklin, who no longer is on the team.
A week later, Muhammad joined the VooDoo as its starting mack linebacker.
This season, Muhammad has anchored the middle of the AFL's No. 1-ranked defense in turnover differential at plus 19. He has 12 ½ tackles, two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
"The Force basically didn't want to give me the money," said Muhammad, 5 feet 11, 270 pounds. "They wanted to go in a different direction. I said OK and left it at that.
"I have nothing against (Force and Atlanta Falcons owner) Arthur Blank. He has a nice Arena team. But I feel it's a little more first class being in New Orleans than it is in Georgia. It has been a great opportunity and a great move for me, and I thank the Benson family for that."
No one was more surprised and grateful for the windfall than VooDoo Coach Mike Neu when Muhammad became available on the eve of training camp.
"My memories of Umar were going against him twice a year," said Neu, who calls offensive plays for the VooDoo. "I just remember looking at him every single snap, and thinking, 'Man, I hate this guy. Here comes this crazy guy from the mack linebacker spot.'
"I hated playing against him because he played hard every snap. I always had to think twice about calling a play with him over there."
Although he's oldest player on the VooDoo's 24-man roster at age 32, Muhammad still has pep in his step in his ninth AFL season.
"People in the stands don't get to see this, but the thing I love about him so much is that he practices harder than anybody on the team," Neu said. "He has fun at what he does.
"He approaches his job with the most professional manner that he can. He knows that you got to be productive and get better at something every day in practice, but, at the same time, it's OK to have fun."