He only had 31 passes thrown at him all year and only allowed 10 completions for the entire year. When you consider that many college cornerbacks have been converted to safety but only a slight few have come from college a safety and converted to a CB.
And very few have been as successful. Most shut down CB's are great against the pass but are terrible against the run. With Nnamdi's size and safety skills he is the complete package and is good against the run. Warren Sapp has stated, "He is a lock down corner in a league where there are not many of those guys still around".
When you consider that the Raiders ask Nnamdi to play corner and do his work in man to man coverage, something that few teams trust their corners to do his transition has been remarkable. Al Davis has been very successful finding talent through the years and has been known to change a players normal position.
One personnel executive stated "When I first saw him, I saw a tall, lean player and I wondered if he would be able to play the position". So, beating a championship team in a defensive battle in which he had a pick six is about as close as anyone on those teams was going to come to a championship. In Nnamdi's final three seasons with the team, he was a Pro Bowler each season and a two-time All Pro. Then his contract came up and he waited with no contract offer from the Raiders. Eventually he signed with the Eagles and his career immediately started to go downhill.
He then signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the 49ers this season and was cut midseason. Nnamdi said he received some offers from NFL teams but none of them appealed to him.
He was luke warm on the idea of switching to safety and ultimately he said he just didn't want to do it anymore.
And that's when it was "time to take a seat. As far as regrets, he said his biggest one was never getting a chance to fully thank Al Davis for what he did for him. He also regrets not saying goodbye to the Raiders fans and thanking them for their support. He got that chance today. He sat at the podium in Alameda, surrounded by the same support system he had when he became and NFL player, speaking to the Raiders organization and the Raiders fans just as he had back then.
And he said thanks and goodbye. What he does now, he said he doesn't yet know. He will continue his many charities and community outreach efforts in Oakland and elsewhere.
Other than that, what he will do and how it turns out is as blank as the day he got the phone call from the Raiders. Whether you think Nnamdi Asomugha was a great player or not is not the point. He was a great Raider.
Mark Davis and the Raiders recognize this and gave him the proper sendoff. Not every organization would go out of their way to gather legendary players and hold a ceremony like this. It speaks to the tradition of loyalty in this organization and the respect they have for a great player and a great man such as Nnamdi Asomugha.
Even in a very disappointing , as Asomugha struggled to adjust to Philadelphia's defensive approach, the year-old still managed to pick off three passes, his highest total since That campaign ended with the first of Asomugha's All-Pro selections. From then on, he had fewer and fewer opportunities, with QBs turning their attention to the other side of the field. The big negative on Asomugha's career resume is that he has never seen the postseason -- heck, he's never even been on a team that's finished better than.
This year's Eagles team and last year's Raiders squad mark the two best records that Asomugha has been a part of in the NFL. While you can hardly pin the blame on Asomugha for the Raiders' bumbling, that franchise went a disastrous during Asomugha's first seven seasons. Wilson, for argument's sake, made four playoff appearances though Denver won just one game in those trips and enjoyed one division title, too.
Getting to the postseason would help solidify Asomugha's standing as one of the NFL's top defensive backs in recent years. Plus, execs around the league pick MVP and more. Whether it's a tough schedule ahead or injury issues, some teams are destined to falter in the back half of the regular season.
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