Former Washington wide receiver Calvin Muhammad dies

Calvin Muhammad, who had his best NFL year with the Washington Redskins in 1984, has died. He died on Jan. 4, 2023, at the age of 64.

In that ’84 season, when starting wide receiver Charley Brown went down with a sprained ankle against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Redskins having already lost receiver Alvin Garrett were extremely thin, with only Art Monk proven of those remaining.

So on October 3, 1984, Washington traded a 1985 fourth-round draft pick which became Jamie Kimmel to the Raiders for the speedy Muhammad. Muhammad, who had played his college ball at Texas Southern, had been selected by the Raiders in the 1980 NFL Draft in the 12th round (322 overall).

During the ’84 season, Muhammad stepped in nicely, starting eight games, making 42 receptions for 729 yards, averaging 17.4 yards per reception, including four receiving touchdowns.

Joe Theismann and Art Monk were having a career year, as Monk set a then-new NFL record with 106 receptions for 1,372 yards, along with seven touchdown passes.

My favorite memory of Muhammad as a Redskin, occurred when Theismann rolled right and hurled an 80-yard touchdown pass to Muhammad in a big 34-14 win over the Cowboys at RFK.

While at Texas Southern, Muhammad had determined to convert to Islam. Upon choosing that religion, he also changed his name, having been born Calvin Vincent Raley on Dec. 10, 1958, in Jacksonville.

Muhammad had ironically been a member of the Oakland Raiders during the previous 1983 season in which Washington had defeated the Raiders at RFK 37-35. In that game, Muhammad caught two touchdown passes from Jim Plunkett. The Raiders received tremendous revenge later in the ’83 season, crushing the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII 38-9.

Muhammad wore number 89 which Garrett had worn from 1981-84, which conveyed to fans that Garrett’s days in Washington were officially concluded, having only played in one game in that 1984 season.