Nnamdi Asomugha: What He Meant to Me, an Oakland Raiders’ Fan

When Nnamdi Asomugha officially left the Raiders a few weeks ago, I had to stop and collect myself. This team has been a huge part of my life for so long, and an era had just ended.

Asomugha was indeed my favorite player for that past 10 years, and that started when he was at the University of California. When he was playing safety there, I watched him many times from the stands, and knew he was going to be something special when he went to the NFL. 

Then, after watching him for years playing for the Bears, he was drafted by my Raiders. This was a dream scenario for me and a lot of people living in the East Bay. 

When news got out that they were going to move him to corner, I alright with that because he had all the tools someone needs to play at that position. Besides, the Raiders are the best cornerback team in the league, right?

I was stoked to watch him grow into his role as a cornerback, and I knew he would be great. 

As time went on, I watched for his arrival, and it came in the most inopportune time for a Raiders fan in 2006. 

That year was hard to watch, but nonetheless, I watched every game that year, and the only bright spot was Asomugha. He had arrived, and he arrived with a bang. 

A lot of people thought that the season was a fluke as he had never had an interception before then, but I knew he had been close, and after that first one, he was more dominant than any other cornerback in the league.

As the years went on, I grew more and more fond of Asomugha. His demeanor was great when the team was loosing, and he was one of the most articulate corner backs I had ever seen. Also, with cornerback being my favorite position on the field, he quickly became my favorite football player ever. 

Then in recent years, ever since he got his first pro-bowl invitation (which I literally celebrated), the talk of him moving on started to swirl,...

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