Eastern’s Eagle-eye
Muhammad Shamsid-Deen took care of his business so he could help his buddies take care of theirs.
One of the inspirational leaders of the Eastern Washington football team, Shamsid-Deen had to get his degree in four years so he could play a fourth year.
In his mind, that was never a question.
“I love the game too much,” said the Spanaway Lake grad who sat out his freshman season for academic reasons. “No matter if we would have won the national championship last year or gone 0-7 (in the Big Sky Conference), I would have come back. I love football. And I promised Mom and Dad I would get my degree.”
Eastern didn’t win the national championship but was closer to that than a winless season. The Eagles shared the Big Sky title with Montana and made the playoffs, but lost in the second round when they couldn’t hold a 20-point fourth-quarter lead.
“This whole summer we’ve all been watching the last game of the season,” said Shamsid-Deen, sociology degree in hand. “We were fighting for a national championship last season, and we could have got it, but that happened.”
The time to erase that bitter memory has arrived.
Practice started Thursday with 88 players participating.
“Overall the team is in very good condition,” head coach Paul Wulff said. “Practice went pretty crisp for the first day. … The first day is always a little bit hectic.”
Shamsid-Deen is easy to find on the field, ears, not eyes, picking him out of the crowd.
“We’re going to do the same thing the seniors did to us every year, we’re going to be hard,” said the gregarious safety. “It’s not only us, the coaches are on all of us. I’m not going to let anybody come in (and not work hard). If they’re going play, they’re going to work.
“If I’ve got to teach a lesson, I will. Other times you have to live up to it too. You can’t just preach it. You have to lead by example. If you slack off, they slack off too. There is no margin for error.”
Shamsid-Deen is part of a talented and successful senior class, one reason the Eagles are ranked No. 4 in the major preseason poll and picked to win the Big Sky Conference.
“He’s a team player, he’ll do anything,” Wulff said. “We’re expecting big things from him this year in any capacity he can help us.”
Shamsid-Deen grew up as a military brat. His last stop was in Italy before arriving in Washington in junior high. Spanaway Lake wasn’t a football hotbed but in Shamsid-Deen’s senior year they made the playoffs for the first time, losing to Bethel in the quarterfinals after beating the Braves in the regular season.
That success, a 10-2 record and a first-round win, helped get Shamsid-Deen noticed.
“We knew he was a very physical football player and he had great passion for football,” Wulff said. “That’s exactly what we got. He was a little stiff when he got here, but he worked very hard at improving his weaknesses.”
There was just the question of grades.
“I kind of think it was my counselors,” he said. “Where I went to school not many people play college ball. My transcripts got messed up.”
A ferocious hitter on special teams and a backup safety who started five games two seasons ago, Shamsid-Deen’s greatest contribution may be his academic success off the field.
“They’re great examples,” Wulff said. “I don’t think there is a kid in this program who doesn’t admire a kid who gets his degree in four years and plays football. … That says a tremendous amount about somebody.”
Shamsid-Deen said it was difficult to sit out his freshman year as a Prop 48 athlete but there was a silver lining.
“You want to be out there contributing and you can’t,” he said. “The only way you can do it is to do good academically. That changed my attitude. Summer school became my best friend.”
As a result, he was able to complete his degree in four years, thus earning a fifth year of eligibility per NCAA rules.
Theoretically now, he could coast through the fall quarter, taking enough easy credits to stay eligible but that’s not the plan. “My parents wouldn’t let me do that,” he said. Instead he is going to work on a second major, probably in recreation, so there are more opportunities for him to work with kids.
First, though, is that unfinished business.
The hope for Shamsid-Deen is that his teammates remember the euphoria of winning a Big Sky title and the disappointment of that playoff loss to Sam Houston State and not sit on their laurels.
“I think we’re going to handle (the hype) pretty well,” Shamsid-Deen said. “People think we’re No. 1 in the Big Sky. That’s all good and fun, but we still have unfinished business to take care of. There are going to be times the media is talking to us. That’s off the field; when we’re on the field it’s all about business, it’s about winning. And once we start now, we have to concentrate on winning the Big Sky.
“This is my last chance. I’ve got to give it my all. I can’t hold anything back.”
Eagles nest
Redshirt freshman defensive end Taylor Summers, listed as the backup on left end, met with Wulff and decided he didn’t want to play any more. … Larry Raynes, a sophomore backup at left defensive tackle, was a no-show. “We’re still trying to track him down,” Wulff said. Raynes started 10 games at defensive end last year. … All-American wide receiver Eric Kimball is nursing a hamstring injury and will be held out at least a week. … There can only be one practice a day for the first five days. Today the players will again be in helmets and shorts. For the weekend practices they’ll add shoulder pads. The first full-pad practice is Monday morning with two-a-days starting Tuesday.