Beyond the X: Muhammad Ali's grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh sows football future at Bishop Gorman

Carving his own path
Early in his freshman year, Biaggio's the one who has inflicted most of the damage. His competitive side got the best of him in a home game with Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) on Saturday.

Under a searing sun and temperatures approaching 100 degrees, Biaggio was well on his way of reaching his goal of five touchdowns with three in the first half. But he had to sit out the second half with heat exhaustion.

"Biaggio is always trying to get better and pushing himself," Rasheda said. "He's a lot like my father in that way."

Said Biaggio: "I want to go to college and play in college. I want to play a gigantic role in whatever team I'm on. I want to be recognized."

Doesn't everyone?

The only advice mom, the daughter of a legend herself, gave to her son - other than run fast - is "Be true to yourself and everything will be OK."

So far Biaggio has heeded that advice and it's worked very well, said Gorman freshman guard Justice Watson.

Besides calling him "The best back I've ever blocked for - his vision and speed and knowledge of the game is unreal," Watson said Biaggio "is one of the coolest kids he's ever met." The two met for the first time last month.

"He's funny too," he said. "Everyone knows him because he's such a funny guy. He's a nice dude. He'll talk to anyone. But he never brings up his grandpa. Only if you ask him about it. That's kind of cool."

Besides athleticism, Ali and his grandson connect at the funny bone, Rasheda said.

"I see the same mannerisms, the same twinkle in their eye," she said. "If either of them are in an elevator with lots of people and there's that awkward silence, they'll do something silly to make everyone laugh. They're just both built that way."

The family had a good laugh Wednesday at Liberty, when the public address announcer kept calling him "Biggio," like Craig Biggio, instead of Biaggio. 

"I know my name and my family knows my name, and that's all that matters," he said with a smile.

He'll be linked to that name and his grandfather forever, which is easy to embrace, but it also can be a tremendous burden.

"The kids have tough shoes to fill," Rasheda said. "I tell Biaggio all the time, 'You're not going to be Muhammad Ali.' But he's ambitious like my father. I see he has ambition."

Ali is Biaggio's middle name. He will forever be intertwined within his grandson's identity. But watching Biaggio run with the ball, gliding and cutting gracefully, it's apparent he's carving his own path down the field, and into his young life.

"My name can take me only so far," Biaggio said. "I have to carry it the rest of the way."