Elijah Muhammad Jr.’s path to becoming an NFL agent began when his attempt to become an NFL player failed.

The former Wolf Pack defensive back, who went by EJ Muhammad during his six seasons in silver and blue, was invited to the Hula Bowl, a pro showcase, in 2020 after his college career ended.

“I thought I had a pretty good shot to get into a camp,” Muhammad said. “But I didn’t really have the best representation, which I found out after the fact.”

While Muhammad’s dream of signing an NFL contract never came to fruition, he’s now a key figure in helping others achieve that goal. The latest example is former Nevada running back Toa Taua, who signed last weekend with the Cleveland Browns. The man doing the work behind the scenes to make that happen was Muhammad, who became Taua’s agent earlier this year after he was cut by the UFL’s Michigan Panthers.

With Muhammad’s help, Taua eventually resigned with the Panthers midseason and led the league in rushing touchdowns. After Taua helped Michigan reach the UFL championship game. Muhammad landed him workouts with the Lions and Browns before Cleveland gave Taua his first NFL contract. It was a rewarding moment for the ex-Nevada star and his former Wolf Pack teammate.

“It hits a little different with Toa just because me and him played together,” Muhammad said. “We have a relationship far beyond the business side. It’s really personal, so this one is very unique just because I know him. We go way back to my years at Nevada and playing together, going to battle together. Being able to help him sign his first NFL contract is surreal just because you went from teammates to this situation. We’re still teammates, just on the business side.”

Taua is one three NFL players Muhammad represents, which also includes his brother, cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, who signed an undrafted free-agent deal with the Jaguars after playing for Oregon last year and running back Brashard Smith, a seventh-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs out of SMU. Muhammad also represents around 20 college players who have signed name, image and likeness deals.

The 28-year-old Muhammad, who works for Young Money APAA Sports, said the NIL landscape helped him get into the profession. After college, he also returned to his hometown in the Dallas area, which has been beneficial for his career due to Texas’ rich roots in developing next-level football players.

“NIL came into play the same year I was becoming an agent, which helped me a lot,” said Muhammad, who played cornerback for Nevada from 2015-20. “The experience I went through as a college player, all these high school players were about to go through at 18 years old and they trusted me. I went back to my hometown. Everybody knows who goes D-I from my hometown, so everybody knew who I was. I had the relationships that were built in that were grassroots back in Dallas. I really used those to my benefit to sign a lot of guys who are at big universities right now who I negotiated multi-million dollars deals for in college. I have 20 clients now in college that I work with, and I’d say 75 percent are from Dallas.”

Muhammad didn’t envision becoming an agent after his football career ended. He thought his path might be coaching, but that requires taking the thankless graduation assistant path to get your foot in the door. More often that not, those fail to deliver full-time assistant jobs. He also thought about getting into athletic administration with the thought of trying to become an athletic director. But since Muhammad got an undergraduate and master’s degree at Nevada, he was qualified to take the agent test shortly after college.

“You need a Master’s degree or law degree to be an NFL agent,” Muhammad said. “I got my Master’s degree paid for playing at Nevada, so that kind of took care of that part of it. The exam is a 30 percent pass rate, so it’s pretty difficult. But once you pass that exam, you’re certified to negotiate on a player’s behalf for all 32 NFL teams.”

Muhammad learned what it takes to be a good client from the experience he had coming out of Nevada, which was not the most positive.

“There was no type of communication,” Muhammad said of his agent. “There was no relationship being built. It was a transactional feeling. And obviously it’s a business and business is important. But with my clients, I make sure there’s a relationship there and I actually care about them outside of football as a person. That was something that I really missed with my representation, and I kind of take that into all of my clients now.

“I’m the player’s agent. I’m a guy who played before. I’ve been in their shoes. I know where they’re going, what they’re gonna face, and I’m also young, too, so I’m able to relate to them in a lot of different aspects and a lot different ways than somebody who’s older than me might not be able to. A guy who might be 50 doesn’t speak the same language as the guy who’s 22, 23 or 24. I have that on my side, and I have the relationship aspect on my side.”

Breaking into the industry hasn’t been easy, Muhammad said. It’s a highly competitive business with only so many roster spots in the NFL to go around. Those typically go to the more established agents who have built-in connections to gobble up players best prepared to gain those positions.

“It’s like trying to date the hot chick in high school,” Muhammad said. “Everybody wants the same girl. There are only so many players that are draft-eligible and draft-worthy, so it’s very competitive, ultra-competitive, and they’re not welcoming at all.”

But after appearing in 43 games for Nevada and making 123 tackles, Muhammad has found his new calling as an agent. While hanging up the pads is difficult for every player, Muhammad has been able to stick with the game he loves, which has eased the transition away from being a player.

“I’ve enjoyed it tremendously,” Muhammad said. “This is literally my dream career because I get to travel around and watch football. I’m not playing anymore. I’m obviously in the stands. But I still get to have an effect on the game from a different perspective. For me, it’s been great. This is the ideal situation for me being a former player and playing the game since I was 4. Once you hang the cleats up, you see a lot of people struggle trying to figure out what’s the next move. I was just blessed enough to find the right path after football, so that’s been great for me.”

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.