Growing up in Chester Pennsylvania is not for the weak. Kids and teens from there see a lot of violence and friends being lost. Bloomsburg’s Junior Defensive back Aasim Muhammad survived Chester and made it out by finding a way in football. 

Muhammad started playing football at eight years old when he joined a youth football team in the Chester area. As Muhammad would get older he would continue to play football.

“I started playing football just for something to do. I didn’t want to be outside — there were just too many bad things going on,” said Muhammad. 

Muhammad attended Chester High School, where he starred as a defensive back. He saw the field for Chester as a freshman but he missed some of his freshman year due to a collarbone injury. The injury did not hold him back; he came back better than ever. 

“That injury back in high school pushed me to train harder in the off-season and come back a better player than I was,” said Muhammad. 

Coming out of high school, Muhammad wasn’t being heavily recruited. He was viewed as undersized and was affected by COVID-19 his senior year.

“Being undersized really hurt me — teams were saying I wasn’t big enough. It was kind of hard but I kept my head down and kept working hard,” said Muhammad.

Still, one team had faith in Muhammad and that was Bloomsburg University. The Husky coaches recruited Muhammad to play safety. 

“I am grateful that Bloomsburg took a chance on me. It meant everything to me they gave me a chance when every other school passed on me,” said Muhammad. 

Muhammad faced some hardships when he arrived at Bloomsburg. He started in fall 2020 when COVID-19 was affecting a lot of NCAA sports. The 2020 football season was canceled due to the pandemic. 

Muhammad felt like he got a season ripped from him. The cancellation of the season had him frustrated. He just wanted to get on the field and play. 

Going into year two for the Huskies, Muhammad would face another hardship as he was ruled ineligible for the season due to academic issues.

Muhammad stated, “I remember getting the email that I was ruled ineligible. I was just stuck looking at the email and I was disappointed.”

Although academically ineligible to play, Muhammad could still work out with the team, attend games, and cheer on his teammates. He also hit the books hard. 

Now going into year three as he was granted an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 Muhammad is cleared to play and is eligible to play this upcoming season. He has taken part in spring ball for the Huskies and is finally ready to go and see the field this upcoming season after overcoming the rough start to his career. 

“I am more than ready,” he said. “Those tough times I went through only made me better and stronger.”

As his college career goes on Muhammad wants to win games for the Huskies and make his teammates better. And most importantly, as a student he turned his grades around by studying and attending office hours. In the future he wants to air his own podcast as he has a passion for that. He wants to get his degree in Media and Journalism as well.

Through all the hardships growing up in a rough area as a student athlete Muhammad persevered. He had to learn how to prioritize his academics as a player and he did that. He never gave up.The future is bright for Aasim Muhammad.