Top 55 Nnamdi Asomugha Quotes

I always go back to the fact that one man can make a difference. No matter what the issue, we always have the power to change it.

Something clicked, and I was like, ‘I gotta be prepared. This could end at any time.’ That was my second year in the league. From that point on I started doing broadcasting and things like that in an attempt to find my passion – something I could do after football.

I was maybe halfway through my career, and I was shooting a Nike commercial, and the director came to the trailer and said, ‘Hey man, you’re really gifted at this. I get a lot of athletes that come in, but you were prepared, and you made everything seem very natural. I really think you should look into this.’

I’m very grateful for my time in Philadelphia and I want to thank the Eagles organization for the opportunity to play here.

My favorite piece of clothing as a boy was a purple Magic Johnson jersey from the Los Angeles Lakers.

I think any time you’re able to humanize the plight of the wrongfully incarcerated, then you’re doing your job.

To look back where I started from, you can’t help but be amazed.

It can be a bit sententious in the Nigerian household, to the point where you feel like with any wrong step you’ve set yourself back so far. It’s like everything has to be done right.

I don’t talk smack because I feel like it’s a waste of energy.

I give my all for the sport, and I just don’t like it when, if things don’t work out, people say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t care enough about football.’ That was the thing that hurt me the most.

I always grade myself hard.

I was always the person who would make the mistake. I was the one who would get suspended from school.

It takes time to change a system and to change a mindset.

I was never a big spender.

In high school, my dream was to go to the NBA. But when recruiting came around, the letters for football compared to basketball were like 25 to one, and my one wasn’t from Duke.

It’s a difficult thing in this league to match up, to line up and play one-on-one football.

When guys get to a certain age or certain level in their career maybe they don’t do as much or work as hard so they start to lose some of that stuff. It’s inevitable that at some point your going to lose most of what you’ve had.

There’s a way to speak your mind. You don’t just go off and say whatever you feel is right. You have to say what you feel is right and say it if it’s something that works for the team.

I’ve had a chip on my shoulder every year that I’ve played.

I was really close with Rob Ryan, so I know that Rex, being his twin, would be very similar to him.

My freshman year, I started working with a group called Touchdown for Kids.

I grew up in L.A. in the ’80s, and the Lakers were the biggest thing to ever hit the world at that time.

My position in football was cornerback, and what your job is as a cornerback is to read the person that’s in front of you – read their body language and anticipate what’s going to happen next.

As a player, you’re not really in control of your destiny and the way you make a living.

Doing interviews after a game, you can’t give your true emotions. You can’t tap into them. So when you do that for so long, you go into acting and it can be difficult to suddenly just be open and vulnerable.

When I speak, the things that I’ll say will mean something. And if it’s not going to mean anything, I won’t say it.

I’m really bad at self-promotion.

When you’re playing to get into the playoffs, your contract is the last thing on your mind.

I know that a lot of times when a guy is making a lot of money and he’s not playing up to that caliber, it’s like he’s just getting his paycheck. That’s never been me. That’s never, ever been me.

When you go into free agency and have options, any team is up for you to be on – and the Raiders, obviously with me having been there for so long, have a great shot at it.

In film, there’s always this looking for the ‘If you lay down and burst into tears, you did a good job.’

I’m one of the guys that thinks you have to spend a lot of time at whatever your craft is in order to sustain it, and in order to get better at it.

I get a different pronunciation at least every week. I think the worst one, or the funniest one I got, somebody called me, ‘Oh-gooz-man.’

It doesn’t matter how well you play individually if the team isn’t winning.

I tell people all the time that football taught me about life in every single aspect.

After 11 seasons, I retired from football. Four months later I was in Ghana shooting ‘Beasts of No Nation’ as an executive producer.

I’ve always felt that I’m successful for a reason – so I can help, whether that’s one individual or a group of people. That’s why I keep going with football. I love the game and I’ll keep playing as long as I can, but ultimately there’s a different purpose.

I’m always willing to help out when people have stories and they bring them to me. I also like the completely fun films like ‘Patti Cake$.’ My taste is, if it feels like it’s something I’d like to see, then I’ll get behind it.

You kind of have to be secretive about what you’re doing post-football because if you’re really outward and everyone knows about it while you’re playing football then the rap on you is, ‘Oh, you don’t care about the game.’

I don’t learn as well, I think, in like a structured way. I kind of have to be thrown into it.

If we’re in a scene together, I want to give you something that allows your performance to be truthful. In football, if you’re opposite me, I want to destroy you, take your head off. I’m still reading body language, still reacting, still trusting my instincts – same as football – but it’s different now.

I think everybody has talents that haven’t been tapped into. They can go unnoticed your entire life.

Obviously, teams are passing a lot more, and there are rules that… allow the offense to be more explosive, so you want to have as many defensive players and defensive playmakers and defensive backs that you can.

Everything in life is about confidence. The more you have, the further you’ll go usually.

I remember players talking to Willie Brown in my presence. Receivers asking, ‘Is this who you drafted? I can’t believe this is who you drafted.’ I was hearing it from my defensive backs: ‘Man, you got a long way to go.’

My mind-set is to come in and compete and be the best I can possibly be.

You’re seen a certain way in the acting world. To them, you’re still a football player and not taken as seriously. They think you’re just doing it to be a celebrity, to keep your name out there. They don’t think you’ll prepare.

For athletes, it’s extremely tough to trust people with your finances. It’s so easy to be victimized.

I’ve always worked my butt off physically and mentally.

You become a family when you’re on a football team. It’s the ultimate team sport, so you have no choice but to feel like family, and that never leaves you.

I talked to a lot of people that switched careers. Not necessarily to acting, but switched jobs. The ‘becoming a student again’ is the thing that always kept coming up.

I think any time you get a boost of confidence, it fuels you to do more, and that kept happening for me.

I come from a performing family. My parents are Nigerian, and their parents and their parents – and it’s all about performance in their culture, you know. The music. The dancing… you’re told to stand out at family gatherings and perform in some sort of way. You’re just kind of born into it.

Months after I retired, the Kings won the Stanley Cup and I was there for that game… I happened to be there with a buddy of mine and I was like, ‘Oh, I miss this.’

Seven straight years of losing isn’t fun for anyone.