No one would have blamed Khalid Naziruddin had he
played out his college football career at Howard Payne in Brownwood.
He had already established himself there, starting at cornerback for
a winning team.
No one would have been shocked had Naziruddin played out this
season at Texas Tech as a backup, a part-time player, an occasional
contributor. People still were learning to pronounce his name here
in the year after he transferred.
Naziruddin’s not one to settle for NCAA Division III football,
though. Nor for being a backup at the Division I level, for that
matter.
‘‘I looked at Division I football on TV all the time at Howard
Payne,’’ said Naziruddin, the cornerback who made the jump
successfully, all the way to full-time starter this season for a Big
12 Conference team. ‘‘I felt like I could play it. The first two
years I played, that was a good learning experience. I felt I needed
to move up and go to the next level.’’
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| Naziruddin |
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The bold move paid off. Naziruddin, who sat out last
season, cracked the Red Raiders’ starting lineup this season and
stayed there. A physical 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Naziruddin
finished the regular season second on the team with 72 tackles,
including 21/2 tackles behind the line and 11/2 sacks.
Plus, he lined up at cornerback for a team that ranked 13th in
the nation in pass defense.
That’s not too different from what Naziruddin envisioned. It’s
different from what most others envisioned for him, however.
When Naziruddin was finishing high school at Spring Westfield, he
wrote letters to assorted college-football programs, trying to get
noticed. He said none bothered to write back.
Others in his position might have been happy two years later to
be a key player for a Division III team posting records of 8-2 and
9-1. But Naziruddin had the itch to play at a higher level — not to
mention the need.
D-III players don’t receive athletic scholarships, so Naziruddin
survived mostly on summer jobs, money from home and a little
savings.
It bothered him, ‘‘Knowing my parents were helping me out every
way they can, and I didn’t want to put that burden on them,’’
Naziruddin said. ‘‘I was 20 years old and still needed help from my
parents. I wanted to take a burden off their shoulders.’’
Even at that, Naziruddin said his parents warned him of what he
was giving up ... and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.
‘‘They just let me know what’s ahead of me,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not
going to be easy, (advice) like that. I was already set at Howard
Payne. Things were going good at Howard Payne. But school was
getting expensive. I wanted to earn a scholarship. That’s one of my
lifelong goals was to earn a scholarship.
‘‘I felt, I’m a grown man now. I’ve started to make my own
decisions, so I went ahead and did it.’’
He got the scholarship, and perhaps the best testimonial to
Naziruddin’s progress is the stability the Red Raiders enjoyed at
his position. A year ago, Tech used several players at cornerback
and ranked 100th in the nation in pass defense. This year, Antonio
Huffman and Naziruddin took the starting jobs and rarely came off
the field.
No small amount of mental toughness was required from Naziruddin,
considering the caliber of receivers he was assigned to cover this
year compared to earlier in his career.
‘‘It’s a lot mental,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a lot of poise and
self-confidence. I think God really helped me out in that area. ...
It’s a lot of poise, maintaining your cool and being relaxed.’’
Now Naziruddin faces another new experience — postseason
football. A team from his old conference, Mary Hardin-Baylor,
advanced to the Division III national championship game this year.
During his stay in Brownwood, Naziruddin’s teams never made it to
the playoffs, even though Howard Payne won regularly.
Tech takes off Friday for San Diego, Calif., where the No. 21
Raiders (7-4) will take on No. 4 California (10-1) at 7 p.m. Dec. 30
in the Holiday Bowl.
‘‘San Diego’s going to be a nice place,’’ Naziruddin said. ‘‘It’s
going to be a new experience for me, my first bowl game. I’m looking
forward to it.’’
don.williams@lubbockonline.com t 766-8734
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