Rasheen Ali led the nation last year with 25 touchdowns. Now Herd fans wonder what the former boxer will do for round two.
By Keith Morehouse
HQ 118 | SUMMER 2022
The story of how a talented kid with the surname Ali started out in a boxing ring and ended up on the football field is quite the tale. Boxing lore is seldom dull, and Rasheen Ali’s memoir is the profile of a prodigy.
It starts in Cleveland, Ohio, where Ali’s dad, also named RaSheen, was an up-and-coming fighter in the 1980s. He loved the fight game and would even open his own gym — the DNA Level C (Cleveland spelled backwards) Boxing Club. He would become a coach and eventually work with USA Boxing. His all-time favorite fighter is six-time world champion Sugar Ray Robinson, called by many the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in boxing history. When he had a young son named Rasheen, he didn’t expect him to be the next Sugar Ray, but he did expect him to learn the lessons that the “sweet science” teaches.
“The plan was for him to get the discipline first,” Ali said of his son. “Let’s be honest, nobody wants to get hit. Most importantly, it’s just you in there. In football, you can blame the center, the quarterback or the linemen. With boxing, you have to look at the man in the mirror and make it happen.”
Still, young Ali’s mother and father disagreed about where to begin. Ali’s dad wanted him to box, and his mom wanted him to play football — talk about a split decision.
“I really don’t like it. I enjoy out-thinking another man and out-maneuvering him, but I still don’t like to fight.” — Sugar Ray Robinson
“I never really liked boxing honestly,” Ali said. “It was just something that I had to do.”
Ali now understands that his father knew best. The elder Ali has seen close-up what the canvas can teach — discipline, motivation, fortitude, toughness and self-preservation. That his son was athletically gifted was an added advantage.
“His first fight was when he was 10 or 11 years old,” Ali’s father said. “He was so big for his age he used to spar up. Not to brag but his reflexes were phenomenal.”
Many times, it was simply the tale of the tape that would intimidate Ali’s opponents.
“I was good,” Ali said with a bashful smile. “Problem with boxing I was always so big, it was hard for me to get fights. I would kind of walk through tournaments and fight in the championship all the time.”
It was during his fledgling boxing career that Ali’s father took him out of football. Later in high school at Shaker Heights in Cleveland, he would unlace his gloves, give up life inside the ropes and lace up his cleats. That footwork, and those moves, would serve him well.
“His senior year I was in Chattanooga with my boxing team,” his father said. “I was talking to my wife, and she screamed, ‘He just scored an 80-yard touchdown!’ Then a few minutes later she screamed, ‘He just scored a 60-yard touchdown!’ I wasn’t surprised. He was always doing things like that. Everything came quickly to him.”
Because Ali was away from high school football for a time, he was not heavily recruited. Former Ohio State star running back and Marshall running backs coach Pepe Pearson saw potential in Ali and recruited him to Marshall.
“This is the next great running back to wear No. 22 here,” Doug Chapman shouted to a reporter at a spring practice in 2021. Chapman is a Marshall Hall of Famer who also wore No. 22. He’s second all time at Marshall in career rushing yards. He also played in the NFL. The man can spot a talented back when he sees one and knows that great running backs are measured by yardsticks and by intangibles.
“I watched his footwork,” Chapman said. “To me he had the most talent in the running backs room, but he was still a bit raw. Coach Telly Lockette did a great job of coaching him up and helping him understand the nuances of being a great running back. He has all the natural gifts that God gives really good running backs.”
It didn’t take long for Ali to turn talent into touchdowns. He burst onto the scene in the first game of the 2021 season by scoring four touchdowns against Navy on national television. Ali had no plans of slowing down. He went on to rush for 1,401 yards and broke Doug Chapman’s freshman rushing record in the process. He led all of NCAA FBS football with 25 touchdowns. He tied for the most rushing touchdowns with 23 and also caught 45 passes for 334 yards and one touchdown. Oh, and he took a kickoff back for a score as well.
Remember how heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was fond of making predictions? Before his freshman season Marshall’s Ali had a premonition that he might have a monster season.
“My girlfriend recorded me, and I said, ‘I want to have 1,500 yards and 25 touchdowns.’ So I kind of spoke it into existence. I was surprised honestly, but I think the sky’s the limit. I think I can do a lot more.”
After Ali’s breakout freshman year, head coach Charles Huff got to thinking, maybe this boxing thing has some legs.
“The two best running backs I’ve coached both boxed,” Huff said. “New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley and Rasheen. Rasheen is one of the most coachable players I’ve been around. He’s extremely humble which allows him to continue to seek improvement. His best years are ahead of him.”
Right in front of him is the 2022 season. Ali knows he can no longer hide in a crowded backfield. His name and his numbers are out there. What he does plan to do is become more of a leader, and not just through words.
“I lead by actions,” Ali said. “A lot of people just watch what I do, and in a sense they follow me. I lead by example. I put my head down and go to work.”
“My punches are just as hard in Chicago as in New York.” — Sonny Liston
This quote by Sonny Liston about a fight venue change might also apply to Rasheen Ali. One of the big concerns around the Herd fan base was that Ali would use his sensational freshman season to utilize the transfer portal and maybe move to a Power 5 school. He flicked that question away like an errant jab.
“I don’t even feed into all that,” Ali said. “This is where I came, this is where I’m staying. My dad always told me if you’re good enough they’ll find you. Just because I’m at Marshall doesn’t mean I have to go to an SEC school to get hit by bigger people, taking more wear on my body just to say I’m a better running back. I already made a name for myself; people know me here. I love the team and I love the coaches.”
He heads into his sophomore season with big expectations. He’ll have an historic stage to showcase his talents when Marshall meets Notre Dame in South Bend on Sept. 10 on NBC. How about a little pre-fight prediction?
During his cover photo shoot for this magazine, he offered up this: “You heard it here first. We’re going to beat Notre Dame.”
Most experts will tell you Ali’s an NFL talent. He’s got speed, patience, vision and power. It’s not hard to imagine the rest of the Sun Belt trying to play “catch-22” all season long — with Rasheen Ali bobbing and weaving his way up and down the football field.
What a main event that would be.
