Abdul - Karim al - Jabbar Abdul - Karim al - Jabbar , previously Karim Abdul - Jabbar ( born Sharmon Shah on June 28 , 1974 ) , is a former American football player . A 5 ' 11 " running back , he played in the National Football League ( NFL ) from 1996 to 2000 with the Miami Dolphins , Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts . College . Born in Los Angeles , California , he played for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 under head coach Terry Donahue . He set the school record for rushing yards in a season and was named team MVP in consecutive years under the names ' Sharmon Shah ' in 1994 and ' Karim Abdul - Jabbar ' in 1995 . He was a three - year letterman and two - year starter at UCLA . Despite leaving school with one season of eligibility remaining , he ranks third on the Bruins ' all - time rushing list with 3 , 030 yards on 582 carries ( 5 . 2 avg . ) with 16 touchdowns . He also added 36 receptions for 306 yards with one touchdown . Karim averaged 110 . 1 total yards per game in college and was the only player in school history ( and seventh in Pac - 10 annals ) to rush for over 1 , 200 yards . Professional career . Al - Jabbar was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins , with whom he would play three and a half seasons . In his rookie year , he set many of the Dolphins ' rookie records for rushing by a running back . He became only the second Dolphin to lead the team in rushing in each of his first two seasons in the league . In 1997 , he led the NFL in total touchdowns with 16 and tied Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis for the league lead with 15 rushing TDs . Afterwards his productivity decreased . In 1999 , the Dolphins traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a third round draft pick in the 2000 NFL Draft ; while he did put up some decent numbers , it was not enough to earn himself a contract extension . . Name controversy . In 1995 , the Muslim Sharmon Shah was given the name " Karim Abdul - Jabbar " by his Imam . The new name he was given quickly garnered major attention upon his NFL debut . Some commentators mistakenly believed that he was the son of former basketball great , Kareem Abdul - Jabbar . ( The latter has a son named Kareem ) He also wore number 33 , the same number that Kareem Abdul - Jabbar had worn . The name controversy was periodically spoofed on postgame recaps , such as in 1996 when Chris Berman of ESPN called an Abdul - Jabbar touchdown rush with an imitation of Marv Albert , who was famous for announcing basketball as well as football games . In 1998 , Kareem Abdul - Jabbar filed a lawsuit against Karim , stating that there were too many similarities between the two . In the lawsuit , Kareem listed that they both attended UCLA and both wore the # 33 . He felt that Karim was making profits and sponging off the name and number he made famous in the 1970s . He won a court order that required Karim to drop the " Abdul - Jabbar " name off his jersey . In addition , all Dolphins jerseys with the " Abdul - Jabbar " name and # 33 were immediately pulled from the shelves and merchandising catalogs . Karim complied and had his name changed to simply ' Abdul ' . Karim maintains that he chose the # 33 as his uniform number not because of Kareem , but because of former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett . After the lawsuit , he changed his name to Abdul - Karim al - Jabbar in 2000 .