By Pete Pelegrin
Twitter: @Petepelegrin

What was expected to be a typical Sunday afternoon team meeting for cornerback Brad Muhammad and his FIU teammates was anything but.

Last Sunday, FIU Coach Butch Davis gathered the Panthers in the team meeting room of the football fieldhouse. About a few minutes into the meeting, Roary, the FIU mascot, emerged and Muhammad figured something was up.

"I thought in the team meeting we were getting a quick briefing from coach," Muhammad said. "When we saw Roary the whole team wondered what was going on. Coach started talking and he looked at me and then I knew something was going on. He made a comment about a guy working hard and I thought this was a surreal moment. When he said "Brad Muhammad" everything went a blur. I was in shock."

On Sunday, Davis awarded Muhammad a scholarship for his performance both on the field and off the field. The scholarship was a result of a long journey of persistence for Muhammad and learning from his mistakes.

Back in 2013, Muhammad joined the Panthers as a preferred walk-on out of Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg. However, as a freshman Muhammad struggled academically and was removed from the football team.

For the past three years, Muhammad concentrated on getting his grades in line while staying in shape to eventually pursue his football dreams again.

"I wasn't taking care of my priorities and what really mattered," said Muhammad of his first year at FIU. "Football is a priority in my life but grades are much more important. I stayed persistent and kept coming back. I kept working on my craft and working on my grades. I made my weaknesses, my strengths and got it together and coach gave me another opportunity and I took advantage of it."

In spring practice, Muhammad volunteered to be on every special team, hustled every chance he got and became a meticulous film watcher, constantly asking questions to the coaching staff of how he could improve.

"One of the things you love as a head coach is anytime you can reward somebody for setting an example," Davis said. "Brad did a great job academically to put himself in this position to earn a scholarship. You got absolute maximum effort from him. He was able to go in and learn how to play corner, nickel, dime and safety. It's a joy to be able to make a difference in the life of those kinds of kids by giving him a scholarship."

FIU defensive backs coach Eric Thatcher saw the development of Muhammad and said everyone on the team could learn from the redshirt senior.

"It showed that the kid was determined," Thatcher said. "That excites you as a coach because there are probably not a lot of things in life that he won't fight for. Brad is teaching us something about life right there being persistent, working hard, keeping your head down grind it out and good things will happen."

This time Muhammad won't let the opportunity presented to him get away.

"I want to take what I've learned here in college," Muhammad said. "I want to help my community, get involved with the youth and teach them the things I've learned focusing on the little things so they won't make the same mistakes that I have. I know some guys may get complacent but you have to take advantage of every opportunity because it could be here today and gone tomorrow."