Who Is Kerry Washington's Husband, Nnamdi Asomugha?

We may miss seeing our favorite A-list celebrity couples on the red carpet these days, as due to the coronavirus pandemic, entertainment's notable events are now virtual. There's a big absence of dressed-up lovebirds posing in front of photographers these days (unless you count Instagram snaps), and one of those fashionable couples we miss seeing is actor Kerry Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha. Although the Little Fires Everywhere star and former NFL player have kept their marriage life private, the glamorous pair can't help but light up events with their presence.

"I don't want to sound smug about it...but the point is to do what's best for me," Washington told Glamour in 2013 about her private life. "I have girlfriends in this business who talk about their personal lives, and it works for them, and I love it. But not for me."

Washington's star power is strong with her award-winning roles in film and television and has a net worth of $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. But her husband is much more than arm candy. Asomugha has carved out two successful careers so far, and he hasn't reached 40 yet as of this writing. Find out more about Asomugha, his love story with Washington, and what is next for the multi-talented fellow.

Nnamdi Asomugha is a Louisiana native, but he grew up in Los Angeles, where he had a stellar high school football career. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, playing as a cornerback for the Bears. According to his college career stats, Asomugha was one of the team's leaders his senior year at Cal in 2002 and a "highly intelligent player who swarms to football and can make big plays." Asomugha wasn't the only one in his family to play football; his older brother, Chijioke, attended Stanford as a cornerback and two cousins also played for Cal.

In 2003, Asomugha was drafted by the Oakland Raiders, and he began an incredible eight-year career with the team, according to ESPN. His time with the Raiders included making the Pro Bowl three times, and being named to the All-Pro Team in 2008 and 2010. As a free agent in 2011, Asomugha signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the NFL's website. However, it wasn't a good fit.

"I think the contrast is I didn't really know anyone [in Philadelphia], and it was a new area for me," Asomugha said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Those were probably the biggest differences."

His stint with the Eagles lasted only two years, and then he briefly played for the San Francisco 49ers, where he was a teammate of Colin Kaepernick, in 2013. Asomugha retired as a Raider that year, ending an 11-year career.

Kerry Washington has been mostly quiet about her marriage to Nnamdi Asomugha, but she has shared how she met her husband. The former Scandal star thanks The Great White Way for that, as according to The New York Daily News, the two met in 2010 when Asomugha attended Washington's Broadway debut in the play Race, co-starring David Alan Grier, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Three years later, the couple got married in a super-private ceremony in Idaho. "It was small, just family and close friends," a source told People in 2013. "They said their own vows, people stayed at the house. It was really simple and sweet." Together, they welcomed a daughter, Isabelle, and a son, Caleb. Asomugha also has a teen daughter from a previous relationship, who Washington considers as her own. "I am a mother of three," Washington said during a 2018 appearance on TODAY.

The stage plays a pivotal role in Washington and Asomugha's lives. Telling Marie Claire how much the stage meant to her, Washington gushed,  "The last time I did theater, it completely transformed my life. That's where I met my husband."

Asomugha is also making his way onto Broadway. In January 2020, he made his debut starring opposite Washington's former Race co-star Grier in A Soldier's Play. In an interview with Playbill, Asomugha described the theater experience as "life for me."

"You're breathing the same air as the audience," Asomugha said. "You hit go and you can't stop until it's all over."

A shift from the gridiron to Broadway may seem like an unlikely trek for Nnamdi Asomugha, but the former football player had been building a hybrid resume before his NFL retirement. It started with a Dick's Sporting Goods commercial, Asomugha told CBS This Morning.

"The director pulled me aside, and said, 'Wow, you got great ability, very natural. This is something that I don't see often with athletes.'"

That director was Peter Berg, who helmed the hit drama, Friday Night Lights, and he cast Asomugha in a cameo role. Asomugha continued his Hollywood career by producing movies like Netflix's Beasts of No Nation, Harriet, and Apple's The Banker. He landed a supporting role in another film he produced, Crown Heights. The Amazon film stars Lakeith Stanfield as a man convicted of murder and Asomugha as a friend willing to prove his innocence, no matter how many years it will take.

Although acting and producing are now in his view, football is still close to Asomugha's heart.

"Football is definitely my first love. Now finding this world in entertainment through acting and producing — I didn't think I would love something as much as I did, but I'm so grateful now that I do," Asomugha shared with CBS This Morning.