The best player in the NFL you've never heard of

This is a long article recently done on Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha. Sure, I'm biased because I'm a Raiders guy and all, but I think every professional athlete should look at what this guy has accomplished in his short career both on and off the field. There is a reason he recently got rewarded with one of the richest contracts in the league.

As great as he is as a player, he's an even better person... and in an age where the NFL players get a lot of bad publicity for whining about their contract status and driving drunk, this is a breath of fresh air.

I'm proud to have a guy like this on my team, and not just because he's been called the best shutdown corner since Deion.


Newly-rich Asomugha setting the pace for NFL on, off field

The contract Nnamdi Asomugha recently signed with the Raiders gave him the highest annual salary in the league at more than $15 million.

By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY

The face of the Oakland Raiders is not third-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell's. It actually is Nnamdi Asomugha, the 27-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback with shutdown cover skills and an older soul's community conscience.

Asomugha is as comfortable locking down elite receivers as he will be looking up Bill Clinton at the former president's Harlem, N.Y., office next month as he leads a recruiting trip of 10 disadvantaged East Oakland high school students seeking college scholarships they might otherwise never receive.

How good is Asomugha (pronounced awe-some-WAH) on the field?

"Peyton said to his dad, 'I want you to meet Nnamdi, the absolute best shutdown corner in the league. If you don't believe me, go watch our 2007 game against him,' " Asomugha recalls. "Peyton threw at me twice. And Reggie Wayne made his catch against me with one hand.

"People were telling me at the Pro Bowl, 'You had (Wayne) blanketed, and the only way he could make that catch was with one hand.' "

Asomugha stands 6-2 and, at 210 pounds, has safety size. He has 4.38-second speed for 40 yards and a passion for education and activism worthy of a United Nation's representative.

He raised his profile Feb. 14-15 when he was the lone professional athlete invited to the second annual Clinton Global Initiative at the University of Texas in Austin. Asomugha spoke on a panel with Clinton, actor Matthew McConaughey and Marie Tillman, widow of late Army Ranger and former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, that addressed 1,200 international students and university presidents.

"I am delighted that Nnamdi participated in our Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting in Austin, where he joined more than 1,000 students and nearly 70 university presidents to take action on the pressing issues facing our local and global communities," Clinton said in an e-mail. "Nnamdi is an outstanding young man whose exceptional talents on the football field are outshone only by his efforts to make a difference in the lives of others."

Such praise is no surprise to newly elected Hall of Famer and former Raiders secondary mate Rod Woodson, who says, "Nnamdi is a special guy, the best in the business."

Introspective Asomugha is arguably the Deion Sanders of his day, minus Sanders' "Prime Time" moniker, 53 career interceptions (Asomugha has 10) and drum-major struts. But Asomugha wears his boyhood idol's No. 21 and can take away half of the field a la Sanders. But he prefers to let his play do his talking.

"Every corner has that inner Deion inside of them," he says. "It may surprise you, but I have some Deion in me. Some corners are so outward with it, and some are inward.

"When I say I have that Deion in me, I mean that same confidence. It's borderline arrogance. You're telling that receiver, 'There's nothing you can do against me.' And I have that same arrogance.

"I don't speak it, and I don't show it. But it's definitely inside me."

Asomugha set the gold standard for his position when he received a three-year, $45.3 million contact last month. His average annual salary of more than $15 million surpasses Manning's previous league-high best of $14 million a year.

That's good news for Asomugha's peers and newcomers, such as Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, who will be drafted into the league next month.

MONEY AT CORNER: Jenkins doesn't want to be labeled a safety

"You look at this guy — the way he's played the last two years and with Champ Bailey being hurt last year in Denver — (and) Nnamdi is the class of the cornerback position, and he got a contract that was deservingly so," CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe says. "You love to see a guy who works his tail off, keeps his mouth shut and is as good off the field get rewarded."

While some general managers are upset that a cornerback makes quarterback money, Asomugha's younger contemporaries are thrilled.

"Nnamdi's contract is good for us cornerbacks," says New York Jets Pro Bowl corner Darrelle Revis. "The bar can only keep going higher and higher. I thank Nnamdi for that."

At the Pro Bowl, where relaxed rules prevent cornerbacks from jamming wideouts within the permissible 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, Manning and Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler tested Asomugha during the week of practice.

Want to guess what happened? They learned why so many QBs have avoided his side of the field.

Asomugha effortlessly jumped Manning's deep post-pattern pass intended for Broncos wideout Brandon Marshall. Asomugha also picked off Cutler on a throw intended for Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson.

"It's the most work I've gotten in the last three years," Asomugha laughs. "With the rules relaxed, Peyton and Jay were like, 'Let's see if we can get him in off coverage.' I've been able to hold up pretty well."

Small wonder why Asomugha earned his landmark pact. Slated for free agency heading into this offseason, his deal was hammered out to lock up the shutdown corner prized by Raiders owner Al Davis, who used the franchise tag on Asomugha in 2008 and covets his stifling pass-defense skills.

"Man-to-man coverage is somewhat of a lost art," Asomugha says. "When you look at Green Bay and Oakland, you know man coverage is what we're playing.

"Myself and (current Packers and former Raiders corner) Charles Woodson talk all the time about it. I know how much Mr. Davis values the ability to play man-to-man."

And Asomugha was aggressive in honing his craft early in his career.

Rod Woodson was with Asomugha during his rookie season in Oakland and says the 2003 first-round draft pick from the University of California was the lone rookie to seek him out. "In my 17 years in the league, he was the one kid who asked, 'What do you have for me?' " Woodson says.

"He's the only guy who ever asked to come over to my house, put a DVD on and study technique."

A big reason Asomugha hasn't gotten more attention — "You don't get noticed playing in Oakland sometimes," Rod Woodson says — is Oakland's 24-72 record during his six-year career.

Says Marshall, "I can't say Nnamdi's the best in the game because I'm on the same team with Champ Bailey. But Nnamdi is a shutdown corner. Quarterbacks and coaches are scared of him."

Roots in Nigeria, education

Asomugha is first-generation Nigerian-American. His family hails from eastern Nigeria, and higher education is the family vocation. His late father, Godfrey, a petroleum engineer, immigrated in 1972 before his wife, Lilian, arrived in 1974.

Asomugha's parents earned doctoral degrees, a family tradition.

His older sister, Chisara, is at Yale finishing her doctorate on a pediatric-medicine fellowship. Older brother Chijioke, a Stanford grad, is working on a master's in business administration at Columbia.

Asomugha is chairman of his family foundation, OWIN (Orphans and Widows in Need), which donates medicine and food while providing life skills to children and widows from Nigerian villages in dire need.

Asomugha's first name means "My Father Lives" in his native tongue. That's fitting considering how Asomugha served as a father figure to younger corners Revis and Cortland Finnegan of the Tennessee Titans at the Pro Bowl.

"I go to the Pro Bowl at 27, and what do Darrelle and Cortland call me but 'old head,' " Asomugha laughs. "They kidded me, saying, 'Look at what you're wearing.' I'm wearing sweats. They told me I looked like an old man.

"They remind me of how I was coming into the league. They just want to learn as much as they can."

Asomugha says former New England Patriots Pro Bowler Ty Law told him last offseason about a young, up-and-coming talent from his hometown of Aliquippa, Pa. — Revis, who reached the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season.

"Ty kept talking last offseason about 'my boy,' who went to his high school," Asomugha says. "Darrelle has a chance to be a shutdown corner. He's very smooth in his backpedals, very confident. He's starting to get the same treatment I do."

Finnegan gushed about Asomugha, saying, "Nnamdi was wonderful, taking me under his wing."

The lure of the corner

Martin Bayless was a safety with five teams from 1984 to 1996 before he became the Raiders' secondary coach from 2004-2005. The Raiders starting corners at the time? Asomugha and Charles Woodson.

Bayless helped convince Asomugha of the value of converting from the safety position he played at California and much of his first two NFL seasons. Bayless told Asomugha that in five years, he might command "5 million a year as a safety. But you could get $10 million a year as a cornerback."

That estimate was short by more than $5 million a year. Asomugha reaped the rewards Bayless envisioned by studying film of Sanders, two legendary lockdown Raiders corners in Mike Haynes and Lester Hayes, along with a former Bayless Kansas City Chiefs teammate, cornerback Albert Lewis, whose 6-3 frame is reminiscent of Asomugha's.

"Being tall, it's much more difficult for me to get down low and make the moves and turn and run like the other cornerbacks," Asomugha says.

"What I've had to do is make my strides mentally. Mentally, I can figure things out quickly."

Focus is his edge.

"It takes me one play to figure out receivers from film study," he says. "You have to understand quarterbacks, offenses and what a coach is trying to do."

The detailed notebook he keeps is an homage to Rod Woodson.

"I'm always taking notes on receivers, quarterbacks and the opposing coach," Asomugha says. "I got that from Rod, who was great about inviting me to his house to watch game film. He's like another coach — a tough-love coach.

"I know when I get the call from Rod after a couple of games each season, it's not going to be a great call. When you tell me Rod says, 'I'm the best in the business,' it's hard to believe he said that because he's so hard on me."

Bayless notes another asset Asomugha maximized. "This kid practiced every day against three future Hall of Fame receivers," Bayless says. "He went against Jerry Rice (2003-04). Even though Jerry was at the tail end of his career, Jerry Rice is still Jerry Rice. Nnamdi also practiced against Tim Brown (2003) every day, and then he practiced against Randy Moss (2005-06).

"He practiced against guys who — with what they brought — he arguably didn't come close to facing that in a game.

"He has an opportunity to be a Hall of Famer some day.

"He's special in a lot of ways."

Creating his legacy now

What also separates Asomugha is the offseason entourage he has kept the last three years.

He is a constant presence at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, located in what is notoriously called "The Killer Corridor." Asomugha will pay an estimated $15,000, with some assistance from sponsors, for 10 EOYD high schoolers to visit New York City institutions The Juilliard School, Columbia, New York University and Fordham.

Asomugha has driven the van and played cards and sometimes piano in bonding with the kids on similar placement tours the last two years to Atlanta- and Boston-area colleges.

"Nnamdi is magic walking," EOYD executive director Regina Jackson says. "He's not waiting 20 years to figure out what he'll be known for. He's creating his legacy right now.

"He's gotten 25 of our kids placed in college, kids who wouldn't otherwise have a chance to go to college."

Asomugha got to know the 42nd president during three days spent talking with Clinton at his summit on education.

"I believe I could call him if I needed something," Asomugha says of Clinton. "I felt like I grew on him.

"We talked the whole weekend — football, politics, just random things. He turned out to be an avid NFL fan. He was telling me how I helped him in playing fantasy football."

This offseason has been no fantasy for the Raiders.

The presumed death of Oakland linebacker Marquis Cooper, one of three men lost when Cooper's 21-foot fishing boat capsized in rough Gulf of Mexico waters during a Feb. 28 fishing trip, reaffirmed the frailty of life — and Asomugha's commitment to his off-field passion.

Cooper joined the Raiders in November and made an indelible impression, earning two game balls from coach Tom Cable as a special-teams standout. "It's so hard to speak of it, that we lost Marquis," Asomugha says. "There's no closure there yet for me."

Cooper's boat also carried former Detroit Lions defensive lineman Corey Smith and two former University of South Florida players.

Nick Schuyler was the lone survivor, found two days later clinging to the overturned boat during the three-day search conducted by the Coast Guard.

"In that short period of time Marquis was with us, there's nothing else you can say about him other than how nice a guy he was (and) the work he was doing in the community, and he just got here," Asomugha says. "That's why it was so difficult to hear the news about such a good-hearted person.

"I hope for his family and friends and the team we can get some sort of closure, that we find him."

Asomugha paused, then added, "What happened with Marquis reminds you that nothing is promised and let's take advantage of what we can do while we can."

A philosophy Asomugha consistently practices on and off the football field.

 

that was odd.

 

Al Davis might be a senile old fool who doesn't have near the eye for talent he once did, but he at least finally got this guy locked up for a few years and was willing to pay what it took to do it.

Nnamdi is special, nobody knew who the hell he was when he was drafted. I scout mock drafts religiously before every draft and I had no idea who he was.

They tried to stick him at safety to begin with, his teams have endured nothing but failure his entire career, but his commitment to his craft is a testament to what you can achieve if you truly work hard.

I read an article today that Amobi Okoye is also doing something similar to what Asomugha is doing with trying to get kids scholarships.

 

Of course you know about him Shaud, you are a true MC of your craft.

 

well done.