The Musa Smith story was never about September 11. His story actually came to our attention in August of 2001. Ryan Hockensmith, an intern at The Magazine from Penn State, had read a small blurb about Musa and his father in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. No other newspaper had made the connection and very few people outside of rural Perry County, Pa., knew of the family history.

Musa Smith had been more than a star high school running back. He was the pride of Perry County. An ironic hero, in that Musa was also the son of a man who had been a target of a messy FBI investigation. Federal authorities ultimately connected Kelvin Smith to men who were involved in the first World Trade Center bombing and another failed terrorist plot.

As we gathered information, Musa began his sophomore season at Georgia by rolling up 158 yards and three TDs against Arkansas State. In his next game against South Carolina, Musa attained hero status in Athens as well. Every time the quiet kid from the Northern sticks touched the ball, the crowd echoed the message flashed on the scoreboard: MOOOOOOOSA.

	Smith says he isn't running from his father's past.

I met Musa the next morning, and we chatted for about an hour. We talked mostly about growing up in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, the storied history of Georgia tailbacks and what it's like to be a Muslim in Dixie. Then came the questions about his father. It seemed like he'd always wondered about this moment, when somebody would ask about his dad. He sat in his chair with the same stoic look on his face and jiggled a bag of potato chips. He talked about how his father raised him and what he told the family before he went off to prison. Finally, I asked him if he had ever told anyone on the team. "No," he said, looking dumbfounded by the question. "It's in the past. Why would I tell them?"

I flew back to New York and two days later, Ryan and I rented a car with the hope of driving to meet with Kelvin Smith and his family. The day? Tuesday, September 11. By the time we were ready to leave, everyone on our floor was riveted to the TV, watching footage of the first tower burning. We evacuated our office -- a block from the Empire State Building.

The following day, we kicked around whether to pursue the story. One side argued that this was a great story, a unique perspective on the attacks. The other side was that this story, coupled with expected anti-Muslim fervor, would be dangerous to Musa. The concerns won out. We held the story until the mood of the country could be determined, which didn't happen until months later. By then, Musa had injured his groin and the season was winding down.

Summer rolled around and Georgia generated a Top 10 buzz, centered around a running back named Musa Smith. The social climate seemed less volatile, and we were confident that Musa would not face physical danger. Senior editor Luke Cyphers came on board and raised a compelling point: Sooner or later, no matter how far Musa went from Perry County, his background would come out. If not in college, then certainly as he bounced from tent to tent at NFL scouting combine interrogations.

Musa's father reached the same conclusion. Kelvin and his attorney, Joshua Lock, agreed to meet with me and Luke. We hadn't spoken to Kelvin, who had been portrayed as an enigma by newspaper clips and other sources. We worried he wouldn't answer many questions, especially after he requested that Lock sit in on the interview.

Kelvin turned out to be a lively, smart man. When he answers questions about his ordeal, he is calm and doesn't need any prodding. He has plenty of theories. Some make sense, some come straight out of the 9/11 conspiracy handbook. He plans to reveal them all in a yet-to-be-written book he guarantees will be a best-seller.

The intent of our story was neither to condone nor condemn Kelvin Smith's actions. The most evident truth we could distill is that Kelvin Smith is a man who loves, and is loved by, his son. A son who will never escape his father's past, but who should never be blamed for it, either.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.