Las Vegas Raiders: 15 best defensive backs of all-time

• 2x First-Team All-Pro (2008, 2010)
• 3x Pro Bowl (2008-10)
• 2x Second-Team All-Pro (2006, 2009)
• 11 career interceptions for 69 yards in 122 games w/Raiders

Before beginning his budding career as a film actor, Nnamdi Asomugha was an outstanding cover cornerback for the Raiders in the 2000s. No, the team wasn’t the least bit good, as Asomugha came aboard a year after the Raiders’ last run to the Super Bowl in 2002. However, his play on the gridiron shined during a very down period for the Silver and Black.

Asomugha first came to the Raiders as the No. 31 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. The Raiders selected Asomugha out of nearby Cal, and certainly got their money’s worth by taking the Golden Bear defensive back. However, it did take a few years before Asomugha really got humming for the Silver and Black.

After playing sparingly in his first two years in the league, Asomugha became a starter in year three at cornerback, a position he would hold on to for the next six seasons. Asomugha made 16 starts in that 2005 NFL season. Though never really a great ballhawk, Asomugha definitely had an outlier year in the interception department in 2006.

Asomugha would experience his breakout season in year four in 2006 when he set a career-high with eight interceptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. He made his first of two career Second-Team All-Pros, thus entering his prime as a professional.

From that point on, NFL quarterbacks rarely threw in Asomugha’s direction, and for good reason. He had emerge as one of the best cover corners in all of football. Quarterbacks were simply afraid to throw the football in his direction, as Asomugha did his best impersonation of Deion Sanders in the Silver and Black.

Slowly, but surely, Asomugha developed his reputation league-wide. By the time the 2008 NFL season came around, Asomugha had begun making Pro Bowls and garnering First-Team All-Pro nods. He notched both for the first time in that 2008 campaign. Asomugha would make three-straight Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2010.

During that time, Asomugha was a perennial All-Pro as well. He made Second-Team All-Pro in 2009 for the second time in his career and First-Team All-Pro for the second time of his career as well in 2010. It seemed like Asomugha was never going to give up the big play again.

Then, he left the Raiders in 2011 to join the “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles, a team that was anything but that. Asomugha’s play plummeted in 2011 with Philadelphia. He would return to the Bay Area in 2013 to play for the San Francisco 49ers before retiring and getting into film. Overall,

Asomugha was an excellent cornerback for the Raiders. It’ll be interesting to see how his acting career develops. Keep in mind that he is married to actress Kerry Washington.