Iraqi American Mustafi Al-Garawi has made US college football history by wearing a jersey with a name in Arabic script.
His team, Western Michigan University, lost the season opener 23-6 against Michigan State last week, but images of Mr Al-Garawi's jersey quickly made the rounds on social media.
Mr Al-Garawi told The National that the name on the back of the WMU jersey - Ajoum - is his family's name, while Al Garawi reflects his clan.
His university said when the senior defensive tackle requested that the name be written in Arabic on the jersey, the university quickly obliged, hiring a local seamstress in Kalamazoo to embroider it.
WMU's athletics department said Mr Al-Garawi is one of the first college football players to have Arabic script on a jersey.
He transferred from East Tennessee State university, and previously played for Tennessee's Pigeon Forge High School.
Mr Al-Garawi also hosts an American football podcast, Swamp to Sand, with his WMU teammate, Louisiana native Kershawn Fisher.
“The name reflects their unique journeys: from the swamps of Louisiana to the sands of Iraq, this podcast dives deep into the experiences that shaped them,” reads the description on Apple's Podcast app.
WMU told The National that Mr Al-Garawi's father, Rashed, fled Iraq to the US during Saddam Hussein's regime.
His father chose to go by "Al-Garawi" when he was granted a green card to come to the US in the 1990s, the athlete said.
Mr Al-Garawi is studying for an MBA at WMU, and has degrees in biology and health science from East Tennessee State.
“I did it for my parents,” he said on his podcast. “Being from Iraq, man, they would have loved to have the opportunity I had to go to school … The least I can do is go to school and get a degree.”
In addition to his affinity for American football, Mr Al-Garawi won a state championship in wrestling while at high school.
He is not alone in using his jersey to honour his background. In 2024, Notre Dame cornerback Charles Du, from Beijing, had his last name displayed in Chinese on the back of his jersey.
Mr Algarawi politely declined The National's request for an interview about his jersey.
"I’m just a Muslim man blessed to play football and earn my education, I'm not really into the spotlight and media," he said.
