Quarterbacks avoided throwing to his side of the field. Nnamdi Asomugha, a cornerback for the Oakland Raiders, was so good at shutting down receivers that opponents simply looked elsewhere. After his football career, he moved into acting and producing, and he is now known as much for his work in film as for his years in the NFL.
Family, college and the Raiders
Asomugha was born in 1981 in Lafayette, Louisiana, to Nigerian parents of Igbo heritage. He grew up mostly in Los Angeles, raised by his mother after his father died. He played college football at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied corporate finance. The Oakland Raiders drafted him in 2003. He developed into one of the league’s top cornerbacks and was selected to Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams.
Later teams, charity and acting
In 2011, he signed a large contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. His time there was less successful, and he later had a brief spell with the San Francisco 49ers before retiring as a Raider. Asomugha founded the Asomugha Foundation, which supports education and orphans, including programmes in Nigeria. He began acting and producing after football. He starred in Crown Heights (2017), which he also produced, and in Sylvie’s Love (2020) opposite Tessa Thompson.
He directed and starred in The Knife, a thriller that premiered at festivals in 2024.
Marriage, roots and business
Asomugha married the actress Kerry Washington in 2013. The couple have kept their private life largely out of the public eye. He has spoken about his Nigerian heritage and the values his parents instilled in him. He has also been involved in business and production ventures. At his peak, Asomugha was considered one of the best “shutdown” cornerbacks in the NFL, meaning opposing teams rarely threw passes towards the receiver he was covering. His statistics for interceptions were low partly because so few balls came his way.
Education and Raiders legend
Asomugha has spoken about the importance of education, and his foundation supports scholarships and programmes for young people in the United States and Nigeria. Raiders fans still consider him one of the best defensive players in the club’s modern history. Nnamdi Asomugha spent his football career keeping the ball away from receivers. In his second career, he has been putting stories on screen instead.
