Mustapha Turns Opportunity into NFL Dream
5/16/2024 11:51:00 AM | Football
“Wake Forest has changed my life and I hold him a debt of gratitude for sure.” - Malik Mustapha
After suffering an injury that limited his participation in the NFL Combine, Malik Mustapha was thrilled to perform in front of scouts for all 32 NFL teams at Wake Forest Pro Day in late March.
"I felt good," Mustapha said. "It was nice being able to compete with some of my former teammates out there. Being able to get out of breaks, catch the ball and have a fun time. It's always a good time being able to be with your teammates out there and at the end of the day trying to reach our ultimate goal of the NFL. So, it was definitely a fun experience and I'm glad I checked that box off of my pre-draft process."
After wrapping up the 2023 season with 67 tackles, five tackles for loss and an interception, Mustapha headed south to begin training for the 2024 NFL Draft as well as preparing for the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl.
"I started my training on New Year's Day at the beginning of New Year in Fort Lauderdale, trained at XPE Sports, trained with guys like Matt Gates and Tony Villani who run that program over there and was able to train with some of the best guys in the nation," he said. "It was definitely a fun experience. You'll never kind of be able to train like that again.
"Combine training is definitely a unique kind of training, but I really enjoyed my time there. Florida weather is great, so I didn't have to worry about the cold much these past three months."
Although he wasn't able to compete in most of the NFL Combine events, Mustapha still took advantage of the opportunities to meet with coaches and scouts including the team that eventually drafted him in the fourth round with the 124th overall selection, San Francisco 49ers.
"It was definitely a long experience being able to communicate with different NFL coaches and being coached by NFL coaches and competing against the best," he said. "It was definitely a pre-draft process I won't forget, and I'm just happy to be blessed with the opportunity for sure.
"I got a lot of feedback from NFL coaches. I felt like the stock rose. People finally watched the film and then guys were able to finally see me move. They think I'm big and I can't move, but it is all about me to prove myself right, and not to prove other people wrong. So I knew it was in me, I just got to show it."
Mustapha was thrilled with the performance he put together while on campus again, especially in the running drills.
"Sometimes I'll kind of run unorthodox and being able to maintain my speed and be in control of my speed is something to excel when doing that type of speed training," he said. "So it was definitely a learning experience for me while also being able to put in the work to enhance my speed and velocity.
"I got a good time around what I was planning to do soon, coming off the hamstring so guys know I can move. Guys see me in the defensive back drills and know I can move. I'm far from slow."
Despite the vast amount of experience has in high-pressure situations Mustapha, preparing for Pro Day became an intense process.
"I couldn't sleep the night before," Mustapha said. "I was so anxious, A little bit nervous, but it's all what I dreamed of doing. It's all the work I put in to get to this moment. Life's all about moments and just being able to create more moments down the line is the most important thing to me.
"Still kind of frantic that there was a position in my life where I didn't think I was ever going to get to this kind of level even at the Division I level. So it is just a blessing and I think a lot and I think my parents and I think my whole family, my support system and I couldn't be happy."
Lightly recruited out of Weddington High School in Charlotte, Mustapha began his college career at Richmond before transferring to Wake Forest prior to the 2021 season. He contributed 37 tackles in 13 games played as the Demon Deacons claimed an ACC Atlantic Division Championship.
"Just simply being underlooked in high school, just being a little smaller, but at the same time, just people getting more exposure than I did," Mustapha said about the chip on his shoulder. "It was all about me controlling what I was able to control, so I couldn't worry about the next guy, just focus on your own journey. You can't live anybody else's journey. So that's what really helped me persevere to get to the point where I'm at now."
He's thankful for the opportunities he had at Wake Forest, where he finished with 175 tackles, 15 TFLs, four sacks, three interceptions and four forced fumbles. He's a hard-hitting defensive back who earned inclusion on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List.
"I thank God and thank them for everything because they pushed me to a place where I didn't know I could reach and it was the brotherhood that we formed here and the relationships with the coaches that I built here that helped me elevate my game and it was always great coming back here," Mustapha said about Wake Forest. "I love this place. Wake Forest has changed my life and I hold him a debt of gratitude for sure.
"It's up to me to just take the opportunities of a lifetime that I got to be able to live up to and be able to seize the moment for sure. You never came this far to get this far, so you just got to get to that level and then it's going to be now what? For me, it's going to be another accolade. Another milestone for me. And now I'm just going to try to keep climbing."
"I felt good," Mustapha said. "It was nice being able to compete with some of my former teammates out there. Being able to get out of breaks, catch the ball and have a fun time. It's always a good time being able to be with your teammates out there and at the end of the day trying to reach our ultimate goal of the NFL. So, it was definitely a fun experience and I'm glad I checked that box off of my pre-draft process."
After wrapping up the 2023 season with 67 tackles, five tackles for loss and an interception, Mustapha headed south to begin training for the 2024 NFL Draft as well as preparing for the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl.
"I started my training on New Year's Day at the beginning of New Year in Fort Lauderdale, trained at XPE Sports, trained with guys like Matt Gates and Tony Villani who run that program over there and was able to train with some of the best guys in the nation," he said. "It was definitely a fun experience. You'll never kind of be able to train like that again.
"Combine training is definitely a unique kind of training, but I really enjoyed my time there. Florida weather is great, so I didn't have to worry about the cold much these past three months."
Although he wasn't able to compete in most of the NFL Combine events, Mustapha still took advantage of the opportunities to meet with coaches and scouts including the team that eventually drafted him in the fourth round with the 124th overall selection, San Francisco 49ers.
"It was definitely a long experience being able to communicate with different NFL coaches and being coached by NFL coaches and competing against the best," he said. "It was definitely a pre-draft process I won't forget, and I'm just happy to be blessed with the opportunity for sure.
"I got a lot of feedback from NFL coaches. I felt like the stock rose. People finally watched the film and then guys were able to finally see me move. They think I'm big and I can't move, but it is all about me to prove myself right, and not to prove other people wrong. So I knew it was in me, I just got to show it."
Mustapha was thrilled with the performance he put together while on campus again, especially in the running drills.
"Sometimes I'll kind of run unorthodox and being able to maintain my speed and be in control of my speed is something to excel when doing that type of speed training," he said. "So it was definitely a learning experience for me while also being able to put in the work to enhance my speed and velocity.
"I got a good time around what I was planning to do soon, coming off the hamstring so guys know I can move. Guys see me in the defensive back drills and know I can move. I'm far from slow."
Despite the vast amount of experience has in high-pressure situations Mustapha, preparing for Pro Day became an intense process.
"I couldn't sleep the night before," Mustapha said. "I was so anxious, A little bit nervous, but it's all what I dreamed of doing. It's all the work I put in to get to this moment. Life's all about moments and just being able to create more moments down the line is the most important thing to me.
"Still kind of frantic that there was a position in my life where I didn't think I was ever going to get to this kind of level even at the Division I level. So it is just a blessing and I think a lot and I think my parents and I think my whole family, my support system and I couldn't be happy."
Lightly recruited out of Weddington High School in Charlotte, Mustapha began his college career at Richmond before transferring to Wake Forest prior to the 2021 season. He contributed 37 tackles in 13 games played as the Demon Deacons claimed an ACC Atlantic Division Championship.
"Just simply being underlooked in high school, just being a little smaller, but at the same time, just people getting more exposure than I did," Mustapha said about the chip on his shoulder. "It was all about me controlling what I was able to control, so I couldn't worry about the next guy, just focus on your own journey. You can't live anybody else's journey. So that's what really helped me persevere to get to the point where I'm at now."
He's thankful for the opportunities he had at Wake Forest, where he finished with 175 tackles, 15 TFLs, four sacks, three interceptions and four forced fumbles. He's a hard-hitting defensive back who earned inclusion on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List.
"I thank God and thank them for everything because they pushed me to a place where I didn't know I could reach and it was the brotherhood that we formed here and the relationships with the coaches that I built here that helped me elevate my game and it was always great coming back here," Mustapha said about Wake Forest. "I love this place. Wake Forest has changed my life and I hold him a debt of gratitude for sure.
"It's up to me to just take the opportunities of a lifetime that I got to be able to live up to and be able to seize the moment for sure. You never came this far to get this far, so you just got to get to that level and then it's going to be now what? For me, it's going to be another accolade. Another milestone for me. And now I'm just going to try to keep climbing."
Players Mentioned
DB
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