When we talk about the great football talent that has come out of Western Pennsylvania, the WPIAL usually dominates the conversation. But the Pittsburgh City League has its own history of producing big-time football players.
Hudhaifa Ismaeli is one of them. Westinghouse. Class of 1993.
Ismaeli’s football journey took him from the City League to Northwestern, where he became an All-Big Ten defensive back, helped the Wildcats win a Big Ten championship and played on one of the biggest stages in college football, the Rose Bowl.
Eventually, he would hear his name called in the NFL Draft. That’s a football resume worth remembering.
From Westinghouse to Northwestern
Ismaeli came out of Westinghouse at a time when Pittsburgh’s City League was producing legitimate high-level athletes.
He landed at Northwestern, and by the mid-1990s he found himself right in the middle of one of the greatest turnaround stories college football had seen. Before that run, Northwestern wasn’t viewed as a national football power.
Then came 1995.
The Wildcats shocked college football, won the Big Ten championship and earned a trip to Pasadena.
And a defensive back from Westinghouse was part of it.
All-Big Ten Recognition
Ismaeli developed into an All-Big Ten defensive back at Northwestern.
That’s something we sometimes gloss over when talking about Western Pennsylvania athletes from previous generations.
Playing Division I football is difficult enough.
Playing defensive back in the Big Ten and earning all-conference recognition? That’s another level.
But the stage was about to get even bigger.
Westinghouse to the Rose Bowl
On January 1, 1996, Northwestern walked into the Rose Bowl against USC.
USC had Keyshawn Johnson, one of the biggest stars in college football and a player who would become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft a few months later.
Northwestern wasn’t just happy to be there, either. The Wildcats battled USC into the fourth quarter and actually took a 32-31 lead before eventually falling, 41-32.
Ismaeli made his presence felt on that stage, finishing with 166 yards on five kickoff returns.
Think about that journey for a second.
Westinghouse High School. Northwestern. Big Ten champion. Rose Bowl.
That’s big-time.
Then the NFL Called
His football career didn’t end in Pasadena.
In the 1997 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Ismaeli in the seventh round with the 203rd overall pick.
Sometimes I think we’ve gotten way too comfortable minimizing what it means simply to be drafted into the NFL.
Think about the odds.
Thousands upon thousands of kids play high school football. Only a small percentage ever play Division I. An even smaller percentage become All-Big Ten caliber players. And only a select group ever hear an NFL organization call their name during the draft.
Ismaeli did.
Another Piece of City League History
When people talk about Pittsburgh football history, the conversation naturally gravitates toward the WPIAL.
Understandably so.
But you can’t tell the complete story of Western Pennsylvania football without talking about the City League. Westinghouse has produced athletes for generations, and Hudhaifa Ismaeli belongs in that history.
He went from the City League to the Big Ten. From Westinghouse to Pasadena. From Northwestern to being drafted by the Miami Dolphins.
That’s a football journey worth remembering. And it’s another reason I enjoy going back and talking about these players.
History doesn’t disappear just because people stop talking about it. Sometimes you just have to bring the names back.
Hudhaifa Ismaeli is one of those names.