While Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of the generation, his son has walked on a journey of his own. John David Washington started as an NFL athlete after college before ultimately switching to Hollywood to follow in his father’s footsteps.
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Washington entered the league with the then-St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Starting as a running back at Morehouse College, he also played in Germany for the European league in the offseason. After spending two years as a member of the Rams practice team, he suffered an Achilles injury during practice which proved to be the death knell for his football career.
During a recent interview with GQ, Washington talked with his brother, Malcolm Washington, sharing how he was excited about his audition for his breakthrough role in the ‘Ballers’. He was to play a wide receiver, which he felt he could do a good job of, considering his “NFL experience.” Reminiscing about the life-changing moment and his Uncle Woodson’s reaction to the damning news, he said,
“I’ll never forget Uncle Woodson. 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.‘”
Washington shares how his uncle’s words drilled the reality of the situation into him, and he realized that he would have to seriously focus on his new career now. “I was like, this is my low moment. Like, I gotta act now.”
The former athlete did make the leap and showcased his prowess as the skilled and award-winning actor we know today. However, when Washington revealed that acting was his dream right from the beginning, how did the NFL creep into his life?
John David Washington
Being the son of a two-time Academy Award winner comes with its share of pressures and the tag of a nepotism baby. In an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal, Washington confessed that while he “always” wished to follow his father’s career choice, he chose football to run away from 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.“
However after the unfortunate injury cut his football dreams short, the athlete turned back to the original plan and made his debut with the series ‘Ballers’. Now an established actor, 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 might have left football on the way, he achieved what he wanted most: to create a successful individual identity for himself in the world.
