Former Pro Bowl CB Nnamdi Asomugha is a Great Actor

The Good Nurse, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne was just released on Netflix. Its a crazy true story, that is well acted, and a solid watch (although it’s a bit creepy). My biggest takeaway though was the performance by Nnamdi Asomugha, who played one of the detectives in the movie. He crushed his role. A professional actor being good at his/her job isn’t much of a story, but the Nnamdi Asomugha I know is a lock down cornerback in the NFL. 

Nnamdi Asomugha wasn’t just a good NFL player, he was a 3x pro bowler, and was ranked the 18th best player by his peers in 2011:

Typically anytime a professional athlete makes their way onto the silver screen it’s pretty obvious they don’t belong. Like me behind a microphone or keyboard. But my guess is the vast majority of people that watched the movie had no idea that Nnamdi was an NFL player. It’s pretty rare for an elite professional athlete to completely change careers and hold his own with academy award winners.

This isn’t like a musician also being good at acting. Those art forms are similar, acting and athletics usually don’t mix (although soccer players are great at both…) Think of all the past athletes that have appeared in movies, they’re typically 1) In a comedic role – Michael Jordan in Space Jam or Terry Bradshaw in Failure to Launch 2) An action movie – Carl Weathers in Rocky or Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock in anything he does.  Nnamdi has pretty much only performed in dramas so far, including going on Broadway. He has taken a much harder route than most athletes. Typically athletes will play themselves, or draw attention to their past achievements and embrace athletic roles. Nnamdi seems to have almost shied away from what is easy. It’s pretty impressive to say the least.

Comparable Acting Journeys to Nnamdi Asomugha

In terms of rise to prominence the most accomplished actor/athlete at this point is probably John David Washington who had a brief stint as an NFL player, and has now become an A-List actor. He was blessed with great genes being the son of Denzel, but still pretty impressive to rise to the highest ranks of both professions. He also played running back a position that constantly is getting hit in the head, so I’m not sure how he was able to switch over to such a cerebral profession.

The other comparable actor starred along side John David Washington’s father in He Got Game. None other than Jesus Shuttlesworth himself, Ray Allen. Allen hasn’t done much acting outside of He Got Game, but it is pretty insane to be the co-star of a Spike Lee film, as your debut role, only a couple years into your Hall of Fame basketball career. The role did have him playing as a basketball player, but it was still a drama. Allen’s success in the NBA is probably the most comparable to Nnamdi’s in the NFL (I would say Allen does have the edge).

Top 5 Most Talented All-Around Athletes

These types of freak talents are just unfair. Nnamdi stands at almost 6’3″, can run a 4.45 40-yard-dash, and is an unreal actor? Save some for the rest of us. Am I extremely jealous? Yes. Does he also happen to be quite an attractive man… Also, yes. Anyway, here are the top 5 most talented athletes/my biggest crushes:  

5. Peyton Manning – I’m a Tom Brady guy until I die, so naturally I hate Manning. But the guy is unfortunately really funny and great on Manning Cast (Bill Burr sums it up well). 

4. Sam Hunt – College QB, massive country star, model looks, likes to drink. Just like me, except I only check one of those boxes. 

3. Nnamdi Asomugha – Expect Nnamdi to be cast in some future Make it a Movie blogs, looking forward to seeing what he does next.

2. Myron Rolle –  NFL Player, Rhodes Scholar, doctor, board member for S&P 500 company. I guess we just have slightly different life goals. I’m just proud of myself when I finish a young-adult novel in under a month. 

1. The Rock – Former University of Miami/Canadian Football league defensive lineman. One of the most likeable people in the world (I watched wrestling briefly only because of him), and now megastar. Probably a future president.