Ramadan fasting, BYU and football at Weber State

OGDEN — As an outstanding athlete growing up in Edmond, Okla., Kamaal Ahmad usually let his skills do his talking.

"I was never much for talking to my opponents or anything like that," said the man who is now an assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator at Weber State University. "I was always, you know, let's just play."

But once a year Ahmad found himself doing quite a bit of talking — not so much to his opponents, but to his teammates and coaches.

"Both of my parents are Muslim," he explained. "I grew up strictly observing all of the Muslim traditions, which made us kind of unusual because there aren't that many Muslims there in Oklahoma."

So the month-long observance of Ramadan fasting alwaysrequired some explanation.

"Ramadan was big," Ahmad said. "I started participating in the Ramadan fast in the sixth grade, and by that time in my life I was heavily involved in athletics. So you had this 12-year-old kid who was playing sports and not taking in any liquid or food, and questions arose from that."

Thankfully, once Ahmad or his parents explained the sun-up-to-sundown fasting of Muslim Ramadan observance, his teammates and coaches were understanding and supportive.

"Edmond was a great place to grow up," he said. "The people around me were good to me. They treated me like I was one of their own."

When he went to play football at the University of Kentucky, he found the people there equally accepting.

"Coach (Ron) McBride was my position coach, and he always