Four years into his NFL career, cornerback Prince Amukamara is showing signs of becoming the confident, shutdown defender the New York Giants thought he would become when they drafted him 19th overall out of Nebraska.
He already has two interceptions so far this season – a career high – and he's on pace for 100 tackles.
Teammate Antrel Rolle thinks he knows the reason why there has been an uptick in Amukamara's performance of late.
Is it an increased focus on conditioning? Maybe it's a stricter, more nutritious diet? Is he sleeping 12 hours a day?
Is it – dare we ask – performance enhancing drugs?
Nope.
Rolle believes that Amukamara has shown increased confidence levels because, well, he's finally getting "satisfied" at home.
"There are a lot of things different about Prince. For one, he's married, so he's (enjoying some things that he wasn't experiencing before he's married). For a man, that could definitely help him out. For a man ... I'm just being honest ... it's helping him out. He walks around with a little more swagger, which is something that we need, which is something that we love," Rolle said.
"Prince is a guy that keeps everyone upbeat. He's a funny guy, but when he goes out there playing, you definitely see him being more aggressive, capitalizing on his opportunities and he's accepting challenges. He's winning those challenges."
Rolle believes that Amukamara – a devout Christian who had, until he was married earlier this year, abstained from sex – has increased in confidence due to the fact that he's finally happy.
"I think it all ties into one another, as far as him getting married, being able to [have sex]," Rolle said. "He's just developing more as a man and accepting challenges and being the dominant player that we need him to be that we know he's capable of."
To be fair to Amukamara, he has steadily increased his production in every meaningful statistical category each of his previous three seasons in the league.
"Prince is a young man who's improved year in and year out," coach Tom Coughlin said last week. "And he's improved this past year to this point."
But still, if what Rolle says is true, New York Giants fans are surely hoping that Amukamara's marital bliss continues well into this season and for the duration of his playing career.
