NEW YORK – Playing cornerback was “the challenge of a lifetime,” said former Oakland Raiders star Nnamdi Asomugha. Now he’s tackling something new: Broadway. Asomugha makes his debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A soldier’s game.
Since retiring from the NFL in 2013 and having been named the best Raiders player of the decade by Pro Football Focus, Asomugha has started taking acting lessons. The “bug” comes from its picking for a television advertisement followed by a small part on Friday evening lights. He was then the executive producer of Netflix Beast of no nation, starring in the 2017 film, Crown Heights, and had roles on Nick Kroll Kroll Show and Will Ferrell Funny or die.
So, A soldier’s game came with. Asomugha was ready.
“When I was playing football, I was known for how I prepared for the games,” he recalls his game plans at 3 a.m. and his extreme dedication to the sport. “So it’s the same thing – just crossed.”
Much like how every football game is different – from stadium stadium games – Asomugha says it’s the nature of live theater, even if he recites the same lines in every show.
“I learned each [show] is different. For example, you wake up in the morning, get out of bed and brush your teeth. You don’t do it the same way every day, “he said.
The public, like the crowd during a match, can play a huge role in its performance.
“When the audience is engaged, the show really takes off. It’s like in football, when the crowd is really there for you as a player, so that momentum really strikes,” he said. “It’s crazy how it works, but it’s true.”
A soldier’s game takes place at a racially segregated U.S. military base in Fort Neal, Louisiana in 1944 during the Second World War. Asomugha, part of the set of men in the army, plays Private First Class Melvin Peterson, a role that Denzel Washington created in 1981. Years on the football field have helped prepare Asomugha for the mystery of the two-hour dramatic murder, which will be performed eight times a week at the American Airlines Theater in Times Square.
Director Robert Townsend believes Asomugha’s NFL career has eased his transition to Broadway.
“He said, ‘I’m completely blown away by the fact that you’ve had this other life in the NFL for so long and transparently on the scene,'” Asomugha recalls of their conversation. “I have to imagine that it has something to do with learning football games and being so in tune with the game manual that you are able to keep those words and get them on stage.” “
It was these words from Townsend that brought Asomugha to understand why he had succeeded in this new endeavor.
A big difference between the NFL and Broadway? The pre-show ritual.
“You need a different level of energy to get into football. There’s nothing like pumping my chest, getting upset and upset, getting angry and getting angry bang the other guys. It’s more interior, “said Asomugha. “How do I feel? What is my energy? My pre-game, I guess you call it, takes me back to 1944 to what an African American in the military could live on and just tries to put me in that state of mind. ”
Former Green Bay Packers defender Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was “blown away” by Asomugha’s performance, as was former Raiders cornerback Chris Carr. Then there is Asomugha Kerry Washington’s wife, who also gave her the seal of approval. She played Broadway in a few plays, including those of 2019 American son. Asomugha was a producer of the show, which is now available on Netflix.
Washington and Asomugha live in Los Angeles with their two children. After the Sunday shows, Asomugha flies across the country to take them to school on Monday, her day off per week.
On a plane on the way home, Asomugha watched this year’s Super Bowl between his former team, the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was rooted for Andy Reid, his former coach and the Chiefs. Asomugha played under Reid when he played for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I was like, ‘Let’s go bosses’ but I was definitely’ Let’s go, coach Reid! “”
He considers Reid one of the greatest mentors of his life.
“I could just see him every day and see what a leader looks like. Someone who can really lead in the face of adversity and be there for us when in reality he needed people to be there for him . a huge impression on me, that’s why we are so close so far, “said Asomugha.
If there was one person from his football days, Asomugha wishes to see him in this new light, it would be the late Al Davis, owner of the Raiders from 1972 until his death in 2011. It was he who changed the Asomugha’s cornerback position when he joined the NFL.
“He is just one of those father figures that you would like to see you succeed throughout life because you know they have encouraged you from the start,” he said of his hero. “He believed in me, gave me opportunities to succeed and was part of my journey to becoming the best cornerback in the NFL.”
Now Asomugha is in the process of gaining recognition for his acting.
But Asomugha does not exchange these old days for anything. When asked what was most difficult: Broadway or football, he said “they are both extremely tough in their own way”, but playing cornerback tops the list:
“I think it’s like it’s one of the hardest things you can do physically, mentally and most of all to be good – it’s very difficult.”
A soldier’s game runs on Broadway until March 15. For tickets, click here.
Leigh Scheps is the senior digital reporter for InsideEdition.com and Broadway contributor for CBS Interactive.