Athletes - Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

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	Athletes - Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, formerly known as Karim Abdul-Jabbar (born June 28, 1974 in Los Angeles, California), is a former professional NFL football player who played from 1996 to 2000 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. He was born Sharmon Shah and was a 5'11" running back. His career was more known for a controversy over the name Karim Abdul-Jabbar than his on-field performances. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the 3rd round of the 1996 NFL draft.

College

He played for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 under head coach Terry Donahue. He did set some school records for rushing yards in a season and was named team MVP in consecutive years under the names 'Sharmon Shah' in 1994 and 'Karim Abdul-Jabbar' in 1995. He was a three-year letterman and two-year starter at UCLA. Despite leaving school with one season of eligibility remaining, he ranks third on the Bruins' all-time rushing list with 3,030 yards on 582 carries (5.2 avg.) with 16 touchdowns. He also added 36 receptions for 306 yards with one touchdown. Karim averaged 110.1 total yards per game in college and was the only player in school history (and seventh in Pac 10 annals) to rush for over 1,200 yards twice in a career.

Professional athletics

The Miami Dolphins took him in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft., where he would play three and a half seasons. In his rookie season, he set many of the Dolphins rookie records for most rushing yards by a running back. He became only the second Dolphin to lead the team in rushing in each of his first two seasons in the league. In 1997, he led the NFL in total touchdowns with 16 and tied Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis for the league lead with 15 rushing TDs, Afterwards his productivity decreased. In 1999, the Dolphins traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a third round draft pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, he did put up some decent numbers but not any to earn himself a contract extension. He played one game for the Indianapolis Colts in 2000, After playing five pro seasons, he retired from the game in 2000.

NFL Statistics

Jersey Number - 33 (Dolphins) and 27 (Browns)

Most Rushing Yards (career): 3,063
Most Rushing Yards (season): 1,116 (1996)
Most Rushing Yards by Rookie (season): 1,116 (1996)
Most Rushing Yards by Rookie (game): 152 (12/22/96 at N.Y. Jets)
Most Rushing Attempts (career): 888
Most Rushing Attempts (season):307 (1996) and 283 (1997)
Most Rushing Attempts (game): 33 (9/20/98 vs. Pittsburgh)
Most Rushing Attempts by Rookie (season): 307 (1996)
Most Rushing Attempts by Rookie (game): 30 (12/22/96 at N.Y. Jets), 152 yards29 (11/3/96 at New England), 104 yards and 27 (12/16/96 vs. Buffalo), 76 yards
Most Rushing Touchdowns (career): 33
Most Rushing Touchdowns (season): 15 (1997) and 11 (1996)
Most Rushing Touchdowns (game): 3 (10/19/97 at Baltimore), 5,5,6 and 3 (11/23/97 at New England)
Most Rushing Touchdowns by Rookie (season): 11 (1996)
Most Consecutive Games with Rushing Touchdowns: 5 (10th through 14th in 1997)
Most 100 Yard Games (career): 9
Most 100 Yard Games (season): 4 (1996)
Most 100 Yard Rushing Games by Rookie (season): 4 (1996)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs Karim Abdul-Jabbar

In 1995 when young Sharmon Shah converted to Islam, he was given the name "Karim Abdul-Jabbar" by the Imam, but the new name he was given garnered major attention. Upon his NFL debut, he had some commentators believing he was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's son. To add more controversy, he was also wearing the number 33 that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made famous. In 1998, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar filed a lawsuit against Karim stating that there were too many similarities between the two Abdul-Jabbars because they both attended UCLA and both wore the number 33. Kareem felt that Karim was making profits and sponging off the name and number he made famous in the 1970's, he had a court order that Karim had to drop the 'Abdul-Jabbar' name off his jersey nameplate and all Dolphins jerseys with the "Abdul-Jabbar" name and number 33 had to be pulled from the shelves and merchandising catalogs immediately. Karim complied and had his name changed to simply 'Abdul'. Karim disputes that he used it because of Kareem and it was because of former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett that he chose the number 33 as his uniform number. After the lawsuit, he changed his name to Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar in 2000. .

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