Asomugha Excited To Join Eagles & Compete For Super Bowl

During his time in Oakland, Nnamdi Asomugha didn’t experience much winning. Aside from last season’s 8-8 record, Asomugha never experienced more than five wins since joining the league in 2003.

“Obviously it’s frustrating to not win. The number one goal when you come into this league is to win the championship,” said Asomugha. “You hear every team say it every year, you know, “We want to win the Super Bowl, that’s our goal”. It’s the only reason you play. So when you’re not winning and not making it to the playoffs that can be frustrating.”

Asomugha has never participated in the NFL playoffs, either. Which is yet another reason why Philadelphia was so enticing to him.

“It was depressing. Like I told you before, there’s one main reason why you’re playing. You want to win. Obviously, it would be a little depressing. I wouldn’t watch when the playoffs would come around,” said Asomugha.

Losing takes it toll on players, especially ones that are as competitive as Asomugha. With winning on his mind, Asomugha believes he has put himself in the best position possible in Philly.

“Obviously, I’ve seen what the Eagles have done in the past, the winning tradition that they have, and it excites me. It excites everyone here.,” said Asomugha. “Obviously now were looking into the future to see what we can do with this team, but they’re winners.”

Asomugha joins Philly at the perfect time. GM Howie Roseman has gone “all-in” this free agency, acquiring top tier free agents: Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Donald Lee and Vince Young. He also did an excellent job in handling the Kevin Kolb trade; a move that wound up bringing yet another Pro Bowl caliber corner, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, to the city of Brotherly Love.

This could be, arguably, one of the most skilled teams ever to don the midnight green uniforms.

“It’s a talented team. I’ve been on talented teams before. I think from top to bottom in the organization its first class, with the head coach, president, GM, owner, all the way down to the players,” said Asomugha. “It has a championship feel to it. Obviously you still have to go out on the field and you have to perform. All we can do is go out and work and expect to bring back victories.”

Because of all the talent on this team, Asomugha’s decision became much more easier to make.

“Like I said, there was so much from top to bottom that they had, and they were aggressive. When a team wants you, you can feel it. When you feel that match, I don’t think you can shy away from that,” said Asomugha.

Another key component to Asomugha’s decision was the connection he and DeSean Jackson have, as well as he and Mike Vick, who campaigned for him at last year’s Pro Bowl. In Oakland, Asomugha never was on a team that had a leader like Vick, so playing with Vick this season is a major benefit.

“It’s a big draw, because you know that [Vick]’s a great player and talented player. I spoke to him at the Pro Bowl and he did a mini-recruiting pitch there. That was good to feel,“ said Asomugha. “Obviously DeSean [Jackson] has been texting and calling throughout the off-season. Having Vick here, and the rest of the talent that’s here, I think that’s the big draw. Obviously no single player can control the team. When you get a group of talented guys like that and guys that are ready to win, it’s impressive.”

With so many high-caliber players on this team, the one issue that could arise this season is whether or not the team can develop chemistry.

“Obviously we still have to go out there and play. Everything looks great right now, but we still have to gel, we still have to come together and work, and bring those victories,” said Asomugha.

Winning is the only thing on Asomugha’s mind. He made that clear in his press conference. There were many teams after him, but Philadelphia was, and has always been, the place for him. He even took less money to play for the Eagles.

“There was money out there. There was a market out there with numbers that the media assumed I wanted…The thing I wanted most of all was to be in the right situation,” said Asomugha. “My team and myself, we felt like this was it regardless of money, regardless of location, and regardless of the supposed things I want to do after football. Regardless of all that, we had to make a clear decision as to what was best for us.”