Rasheen Ali is grateful to his parents! With his mom, LaTanya Ali, and dad, Rasheed Ali’s unconditional love and support, he paved his path to the NFL. From Marshall College to being selected by the Ravens in the 5th Round in the 2024 NFL Draft, his parents have been with him throughout. Ali, 23, who is well-known for his next-level defense reading skills, exceptional vision, and explosive acceleration, has established his name in the football world as a dominant running back.

In 2021, the Cleveland native garnered attention for earning the Freshman of the Year Watch List nomination and Team MVP award. Besides this, during the 2022 season at Marshall, he clinched MVP of the Myrtle Beach Bowl honor. That was despite being sidelined from most of the games due to injury. And, in 2023, he became the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two TDS and 180 rushing yards. But, his life accomplishments are incomplete without mentioning his parents.

Who Is Rasheen Ali’s Father, Rasheen (Sr.) Ali?

Rasheen (Sr.) Ali has shaped his son’s world since the beginning. He grew up fighting, training, and learning discipline in boxing rings across Cleveland. That grit never left him. He carried it into adulthood and built a small gym called DNA Level C Boxing Club in Southgate. The place became his second home. It later became his son’s first taste of competition. Rasheen Jr. spent hours inside those walls, watching his father spar, train others, and move with a calm kind of force. He admired that toughness. He wanted to copy it. At first, he wanted to be a boxer like his dad. That seemed like the path. His father didn’t force it. He didn’t push dreams onto his kid. He just opened the door and let the boy explore.

In 2017, when Rasheen Jr. entered a West Virginia boxing tournament, his dad stood close, watching every punch with nerves he didn’t show. The kid fought hard. He didn’t win enough. Something clicked differently for him after that. Football started whispering louder. His father didn’t resist the shift. He respected it. He told him to chase whatever made him feel alive. And football did. But the boxing lessons stayed in his bones. Footwork. Breathing. Patience. Pain tolerance. All of it.

When people ask where Rasheen Jr.’s fight comes from, his answer never changes. It comes from his dad. It comes from childhood mornings spent watching him train. It comes from nights when his father pushed him to think harder, breathe steadier, and stay grounded. Those lessons mattered when the spotlight came. They mattered when scouts questioned him. They mattered when he ran for over 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns during his senior season at Marshall. He moved through the chaos like someone who’d already fought tougher battles.

In May 2024, he said it plainly. “My dad has a lot to do with how I am today.” He meant toughness. He meant confidence. He meant the quiet voice that tells him he can keep going when everything hurts. “If you can sit in the ring and fight somebody,” he said, “you can definitely run up and down a football field with a team of people.” Those words carried weight because they came from experience. His father gave him that foundation long before football ever entered the picture.

Who Is Rasheen Ali’s Mother, LaTanya Ali?

LaTanya Ali stays outside the spotlight, living her life with quiet warmth and steady presence. She isn’t the type to show up in interviews or public statements. She doesn’t chase attention for being the mother of an NFL running back. She prefers privacy. But she’s been there since the beginning, shaping her son with a different kind of strength. Her influence isn’t loud. It’s patient. It’s grounding. And it shows when Rasheen Jr. speaks about his family. He doesn’t share many details, but the respect is always clear.

She moved through her son’s journey with calm understanding. She watched him shift from boxing gloves to football cleats. She supported his choices without drama. She helped balance the intensity that came from his father’s world. Every athlete needs someone who softens the edges. That was her. She offered stability when his schedule grew wild. She offered space when pressure built. Her role stayed quiet, but her presence never faded.

Even with little public information about her, her impact shows in her son’s behavior. He stays humble. He works steadily. He respects the grind. Traits like that often come from home. They come from a mother who knows when to speak and when to step back and let her child grow.

What Is Rasheen Ali’s Parents’ Ethnicity and Nationality?

Rasheen Ali was born to Rasheen and LaTanya Ali, and both parents are African-American and American-born. Their roots run deep in Cleveland. Their traditions shaped the way they raised their son. They believed in discipline. They believed in consistency. They believed in keeping the family tight. Those values helped guide Rasheen Jr. long before the NFL dream showed up.

His parents encouraged sports early, though his father’s boxing background obviously played a big part. The environment around him taught him how to stay tough and  grounded. It also taught him how to stay humble. Those qualities helped him push through injuries, crowded depth charts, and moments that might’ve broken someone else. His parents watched him grow into an athlete with purpose. They watched him chase the NFL with focus he built from both of them. His father provided grit. His mother provided balance. Together they created the foundation he needed.

Now that he’s in the league, the spotlight tries to pull his family forward. But they stay the same. His father still runs his gym. His mother still keeps her life private. And Rasheen Jr. still talks about them with a quiet pride that shows how much they matter. Their influence isn’t loud, but it’s written all over his journey, from the boxing ring to the NFL field.