Denzel Washington’s son John David Washington had embarked on a journey of his own in football before an injury ended his NFL aspirations. John, who has a full-fledged career in Hollywood now, had initially set out to make a mark as a running back in the sport. Till the fateful moment — which he still describes as a “low point” — changed everything.
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After his collegiate career at Morehouse College, John entered the league with the then St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He also played in Germany at the European league in the offseason. After spending two years as a member of the Rams’ practice team, he suffered an Achilles injury.
In an recent interview with GQ, John reminisced about the life-changing moment and how his uncle Woodson’s words at the time drilled the reality of the situation into him. He had to think of a new career.
“I was like, this is my low moment. Like, I gotta act now,” said Washington.
“I’ll never forget Uncle Woodson,” he added. “He calls me when I’m done with football, for real, for real. And he’s like, ‘I just want you to know I’m proud of you and you can always be a coach. You can be a coach, or you go back to school and teach.‘”
John also spoke about how he was excited about the audition for his breakthrough role in the Ballers. This was 2015 and he was to play a wide receiver in the HBO series. Washington was confident of doing a great job to start with because of his “NFL experience”. Besides, it was a great way to relive his long-discarded dream, albeit on screen.
The way John seems to be a natural in front of the camera begs the question: why was football even his first career choice?
John had a strong reason for choosing football over acting
Being the son of a two-time Academy Award winner comes with its own share of pressures in addition to the nepotism tag. In an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal, John had confessed that while he “always” wished to follow his father’s footsteps, he chose football to avoid Hollywood’s spotlight.
“I jumped in and hid in this football persona, this athlete, literally putting on a helmet to hide my face, hide my identity.“
Following the unfortunate injury he turned back to acting. After Ballers, he went on to star in critically acclaimed films like BlacKkKlansman and Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller, Tenet, which got him the Saturn Award for best actor.
John David Washington’s journey has been full of twists and turns. And, while he may have left football abruptly, he has managed to achieve what he set out for in the first place: to create a successful individual identity for himself in the world.
