Age: 53
Qadry Ismail
Age: 53
Qadry "The Missile" Ismail (born November 8, 1970) is a former National Football League wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, and the Indianapolis Colts in a 10-year career that lasted from 1993 to 2002. Ismail won Super Bowl XXXV with Baltimore in the 2000 season.
Early Years
Growing up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and attending Elmer L. Meyers Junior/Senior High School while living with his grandmother, Qadry Ismail would find himself being named the Inaugural recipient of the Martin Luther King Youth Leadership Award among several Meyers records and honors, including 3X All State and All American honors.
Ismail would go on to star in football and track at Syracuse University. Some of his achievements while at Syracuse University include: 5X Bowl winner, 1991 College Football All-America Team as a Kick Returner, 1993 Japan Bowl All-Star Game MVP, All-Big East 1st Team wide receiver and conference 2nd team kick returner.
NFL career
Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, with the 52nd pick in the Second Round of the 1993 NFL Draft, Qadry Ismail became the highest draft pick from Syracuse since Art Monk. In 1999, Qadry was voted Number 22 on the list of top 100 athletes by the Citizen’s Voice, a Wyoming Valley Newspaper. Ismail had some success in Minnesota, including 696 yards and five touchdowns in 1995, but not enough for the Vikings to want to keep him long term.
Ismail played for the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, and New Orleans Saints over the next three years, having very little success.
However, in 1999 with the Baltimore Ravens, Ismail led the team with 68 catches, 1,105 receiving yards and 6 TDs in 1999, including career-high 258 yards in one game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. What might have been the high-water mark of Ismail's career and potential crowning moment came on January 28, 2001, when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants 34-7 in Tampa, Florida in Super Bowl XXXV. Ismail caught a 47-yard reception and earned his first Super Bowl ring. In 2001, Ismail again posted 1,000 yards for Baltimore.
In 2002, Ismail signed a 1-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts as a #2 wide receiver before retiring after posting 462 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his lone season with Indianapolis.
NFL stats
Year | Team | Games | Receptions | Yards | Yards per Reception | Longest Reception | Touchdowns | First Downs | Fumbles | Fumbles Lost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | MIN | 15 | 19 | 212 | 11.2 | 37 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
1994 | MIN | 16 | 45 | 696 | 15.5 | 65 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
1995 | MIN | 16 | 32 | 597 | 18.7 | 85 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 1 |
1996 | MIN | 16 | 22 | 351 | 16.0 | 54 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
1999 | BAL | 16 | 68 | 1,105 | 16.3 | 76 | 6 | 49 | 2 | 0 |
2000 | BAL | 15 | 49 | 655 | 13.4 | 53 | 5 | 38 | 0 | 0 |
2001 | BAL | 16 | 74 | 1,059 | 14.3 | 77 | 7 | 50 | 1 | 1 |
2002 | IND | 14 | 44 | 462 | 10.5 | 42 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 134 | 353 | 5,137 | 14.6 | 85 | 33 | 239 | 4 | 2 |
Personal life
Qadry Ismail is the brother of Raghib and Sulaiman. In the summer of 1984, Qadry’s mother sent her sons to live with their grandmother in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Ismail has been described as a "vocal Christian" and converted from Islam to Christianity in his early teens after his Muslim father died.
Ismail has been an analyst for Comcast Sports Net, B.E.T. Black College Football, ESPN and Rave TV, home of Baltimore Ravens football, and WBAL (AM). He hosts the show "Ravens Report" with former Baltimore Ravens center Mike Flynn and Gerry Sandusky, the Ravens play-by play commentator. Ismail also assists Sandusky in color commentating for Ravens games.
Ismail currently coaches the Patterson Mill High School track and field team.
Ismail was present during the Ravens Super Bowl XXXV reunion in 2010.