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I love interesting stories about Kuwait and this one is particularly fascinating because I was able to get so much information, photos, and newspaper clippings to go along with it. Last week I got an email from someone telling me that their dad back in 1970 became the first and only Kuwaiti to ever be drafted by the NFL. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in telling the story and obviously, I jumped all over it! I really wanted to know how someone from Kuwait in the 60s ended up in the NFL so I met with his two sons and managed to get the full story.

Back in the 60s, their father Maher Barakat graduated from Shuwaikh High School for boys and received a government scholarship to attend the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. When Maher was in Kuwait he used to play soccer with his friends and family and he was known to be a powerful striker who was accurate and usually scored a lot of goals. It was soccer that got him into the NFL, and it was also soccer that ended his NFL career.

During one of his PE classes in college, Maher was given an opportunity to Punt (kick) a weird-shaped ball into a U-shaped goal. He hadn’t played American Football before but apparently, it was very easy for him to kick the ball as he used to when playing soccer. The coach then asked him to do it again and Maher scored the ball again. The coach then moved him to different points around the field and kept asking Maher to try and score from there and Maher would keep kicking the ball through the posts. After completing the assessment, Maher was given an offer by the coach to join the college football team as their starting punter and Maher accepted the offer.

Though his punting style was unconventional (leaning more towards a soccer kick), Maher Barakat became a star at South Dakota. He ended up breaking college and division records, which is most likely how he was spotted by NFL scouts. Maher became really well known in his college town and earned the nickname Bear-Cat.

Maher was officially drafted by the NFL in 1970 and became the first football player from his college as well as the first Kuwaiti to ever be drafted to the pros. Bear-Cat was approached by a number of NFL teams such as the Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, and St. Louis Cardinals but ended up choosing to sign with the Broncos.

In the summer after signing his NFL contract, Maher Barakat flew back to Kuwait to see his family and share the good news. Once back in Kuwait he was eager to play soccer with his friends just like he used to in the old days and that’s where the story takes a turn. Unfortunately while playing soccer with his friends, Maher ends up fracturing his toe. Even after healing, he couldn’t kick the same anymore and that was the end of his American Football career.

Maher eventually graduated and moved back to Kuwait where he worked in the Ministry of Electricity until the early 80s when he decided to leave to start his own business. He ended up opening what eventually became the popular video store, Blue Belt (حزام أزرق) and held the rights to WWF (now WWE) for the GCC (that needs a whole separate post). In the 90s he also became the partner in IVC, the video store located next to Fanar Mall.

Maher had kept all the newspaper clippings and photos from his college years and his sons passed them to me to share. There were a lot but I chose to share the ones I thought were the most interesting and informative. I’ve shared some in this post but you can download the PDF with all the articles, photos and letters I scanned by clicking this link Maher-Barakat.pdf

There is very little information about Maher online so I really appreciate that his sons decided to share this with me. According to them their dad doesn’t like talking about himself and so very few people know of his story and accomplishment. Hopefully, after today he’ll get the recognition he deserves.

Update (August 9, 2025): Maher Barakat passed away today. May he rest in peace.

There is this really great grills restaurant in the Salmiya Co-op mall that’s been there since the early 80s. What caught my attention the first time I saw it a few years ago was the cool-looking vintage sign outside the shop. It’s a really tiny place with just 4 tables and caters mostly to takeaway. They have Lebanese-style kebab and grills and it’s very affordable. The Kebab plate is 1.250 for 5 skewers, and hummus is 500fils.

The reason I’m posting about this place is the other day while having dinner there I realized something. Nearly everyone working there was over 60 years old. The waiter looks like he’s in his late 70s or 80s and the other staff not that far behind. With the new law that was implemented last year deporting expats over 60 without degrees, none of the staff at the place would remain. I thought it was pretty sad since most of them have probably been working there together like a small family since forever. Now because of the new law, they’d all be forced to separate and leave.

Even the chai haleeb guy in the shop across from the grill’s place is over 60 years old and would also have to leave. It’s so upsetting!

All these old staff you see at your favorite old-school restaurants aren’t going to be there for long. So pass by and appreciate them and the experience before it’s too late.

For someone that spends so much time trying to dig up stuff on Kuwait I don’t know how I just found out there was an English newspaper back in the 60s and 70s in Kuwait called “The Daily News”. I found two copies of the newspaper this weekend while sifting through a pile of old newspapers at an old books and magazines sale in Sulaibiya and was completely caught by surprise since I didn’t know this paper ever existed.

One copy is dated Wednesday August 16, 1972 while the other Wednesday October 17, 1973. The newspaper is described as “Leading Political Daily Newspaper in Arabian Gulf” and Edititor-in-Chief was Fahed Al Massaeed. The newspaper was published by Al Rai Al Aam and was launched in 1963. I’ve found no information about it online which is why I never knew about it.

Both issues mostly covered international news but there were a few articles and ads in the papers that were super interesting. For example, one paper had a TV guide while the other one had a radio guide. Then one of the issues had a section called Kuwait Dateline which must be equivalent to a 1970s version of Twitter. Actually, I thought Dateline was really bizarre, why would random people reading the newspaper be interested in this info I have no idea, and they’re so detailed! For example:

Al Haj Nicola Abu Khater, Bristol Hotel Manager flew for one day – stay in Lebanon which he spent with his children in Aljtoun.

It must have been a thing they did back then because traveling wasn’t so common?

Another interesting article I found was regarding the acquittal of the editor-in-chief of the Al-Siyassa newspaper Ahmad Jarallah from the charges brought against him. I only know of Ahmad Jarallah because he’s constantly in the news, always being referred to the public prosecution or always having charges against him dropped. So seeing this article from 1973 which wouldn’t seem out of place today put a smile on my face. He’s STILL the editor-in-chief of the Al-Siyassa newspaper today and he’s STILL getting in trouble with the courts, I love that!

Anyway, I’ve uploaded all the interesting bits from both papers and you can check them out above and in the post below (click on more).

The CAP Bookshop which carries amazing publishers like Assouline, Phaidon, Taschen and Thames & Hudson has moved into a much larger space next to their old location. The new location is at least 5 to 6 times larger than their previous space and they now have a lot more books on display.

This easily was one of my favorite bookshops in Kuwait and it’s gotten even better now. If you want to pass by and check it out it’s located on the top floor of Life Center in Shuwaikh, right next to Contemporary Art Platform. Google Maps

Back in 2014, a German documentary on used tires aired and Kuwait was featured prominently in it due to having the world’s largest used tires mountain. Recently the documentary made its way to YouTube and in English with no region lock and I just watched it now. Although a few years old I think the documentary is still worth watching although some things have changed since then.

Since the documentary aired I believe at least two tire recycling facilities have been set up including Green Rubber Recycling whom I posted about last year.

When I visited the tires graveyard back in 2012, the tires were all piled together in one large pile (pictured above). Due to safety issues and the continuous number of fires that take place there, the tires are now compartmentalized into smaller piles so that if a fire breaks out it’s contained in one area. Fires happen so frequently that it even shows on Google Maps.

While watching the documentary above just be aware that the info is not up to date. YouTube

Thanks Syed

Since it’s an odd posts day, here is another one. For those of you who aren’t aware, the first UFO sighting in the Arab world was in Kuwait back in 1978 and then again in 79. Reports of the sightings were published in newspapers and even the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) got involved.

I’ve posted about the sighting before but this morning I found an interview with the photographer who captured photos of the UFO (Ali Shash) as well as an eye witness who contacted the press. The interview was shot the same week as the sighting since the eyewitness starts off by stating it was Friday 11:30AM when he spotted the UFO from his window which faces the Qadsia stadium. Very interesting stuff and I love that this interview is available online to view.

Good Game, the popular tabletop gaming store is finally allowed to have in-game play at their store again. The only provision is that you need to be vaccinated to do so. If you are vaccinated then you will need to show your green vaccinated status on the Immune app to play or participate in any events at the store.

If you previously missed the announcement, Good Game moved to Salmiya into a much larger space. Make sure you check out their Instagram @goodgamekw

Between 1895 and 1909, Russel Hamilton an English petty officer made various voyages from Egypt to Japan stopping along the way. One stop was Kuwait where he took these two black and white photographs with captions on the back.

The caption on top reads:

Shiek of Koweit and followers. Note that some have covered faces, fearing evil eye of camera.

The caption below reads:

Taken during bombardment of Koweit. Somali outrage led by the “mad mullah” – Sheiks Pallace Koweit

If you’d like to see these photos in hi-res, click here.

Source: Smithsonian Institute

Here’s a feel-good story. Yesterday around 10,000 employees of The Avenues got vaccinated against COVID-19. This was part of the second phase of the government’s field vaccination campaign, the first phase included cooperative societies, mosques, the banking sector, food manufacturers, cinemas, and others. 34,758 employees received vaccination during the first phase.

According to the MOH, they launched the second phase of the campaign in Avenues since it was the largest mall but in the upcoming days, the vaccine will be provided for workers in other commercial complexes around the country.

Over the weekend PACI updated the Kuwait Mobile ID app and added vaccination data to it. This means the vaccination data is now part of your Civil ID information alongside other important info like nationality, birth of date, and sponsor. Clicking on the vaccine status pops up a window revealing details on the first and second dose.

If you’re anti-vax this isn’t good news because it’s starting to look like vaccination will eventually be required for things like residency renewal, traveling, and maybe even accessing gyms or other indoor public spaces. So if you’ve been holding out on signing up for the vaccine you’re just delaying the inevitable.

The photo above got leaked online showing what potentially are new cop cars based on the recently facelifted Chevy Tahoes. Keep in mind that similar to the Volvo and Patrol cop cars I previously posted, these could just be samples and not eventually go into service. But, since the current cop cars are Chevy Tahoes, I wouldn’t be surprised if their fleet did get updated with the new facelifted versions.

Thanks Fahad

This is such a great video if you’re into racing and the video quality is surprisingly really great. The video is by CiTV Sport who produced a lot of rally videos back in the 80s and is narrated in English and features some rally legends including Saeed Al-Hajri who raced for the Rothmans Porsche team and also a young Mohammed bin Sulayem pictured below.

Even if you aren’t into cars you should at least watch the first minute or so of the video since it starts off with some footage of the old Kuwait Marriott Hotel. The Marriott Hotel was the base of the 1985 Kuwait Rally so all the drivers stayed at the hotel and that’s where the race started and ended.

The 1985 rally was sponsored by the furniture company Mahdi Habib whom I hadn’t heard of until today. According to their website, they’re one of the oldest companies in Kuwait and were established back in 1952.

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The photo above is a before and after photo of Sharq. It’s taken from a recent study by architect Khalid Alsafi highlighting the constant aggressive destruction of Kuwait’s heritage and cultural areas, only to then become abandoned empty desert spaces for decades.

If you want to see a higher resolution photo of the above click here.

Yesterday I came across this photo of the Hilton Hotel under construction back in the 60s. I hadn’t seen photos of it during construction before and what’s great about this one is that it also shows the construction of the Gulf Road. The Gulf Road used to be a sandy beach before the land was reclaimed and turned into the coastal road you see today.

Hilton Hotel originally opened in 1968 with the official opening taking place on February 15th, 1969. In 2003 the building was demolished because the structure was deemed unsafe.

via @mmmojil