Nnamdi Asomugha is a smart guy. And a funny one.
So no matter how much the cornerback tries to play off his seemingly innocuous comments to ESPN at last weekend's Pro Bowl in South Florida, where he told the network he wanted to play with New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, there was indeed a method to his madness. And depending upon your loyalties, either ESPN or Asomugha himself created the stir.
"Me and Revis have been talking to Rex (Ryan) to try to do something," Asomugha said. "You may see us in the future. There's a little bit of talk going on. Either he's coming to Oakland or something else will happen."
Raider Nation felt its collective heart jump a bit when those words appeared in print and were splashed across HD television screens.
But then Asomugha fessed up, telling the San Francisco Chronicle's David White it was all a gag.
"The only thing we were 'dead serious' about was the fact that it would be fun to one day play on the same team," Asomugha told Blanco, in South Florida for the Super Bowl. "That's all. We were two guys enjoying the Pro Bowl and completely clowning around during the week. We were playfully recruiting each other; I was talking about getting him to Oakland and vice versa."
Asomugha is that rare Raider unafraid to speak his mind. So even if he was indeed joking, his words should be taken seriously. It's obvious he's frustrated with all of the losing. But at the same time, he took Al Davis' record-setting, three-year contract reportedly worth as much as $50 million last year to remain in Oakland.
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