Justin Madubuike To Go By His Birth Name Nnamdi For This NFL Season and Future

In 2023, Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike marked himself as one of the top players in the league. Now, for the future, Madubuike wants to go by his birth name Nnamdi for this year and beyond.

All about Madubuike’s recent interview
In an interview with the Ravens website, Madubuike said, “Coming from Nigerian culture, our parents give us an American name and a Nigerian name. When we were kids, they addressed us by our Nigerian names, and Nnamdi, I believe in my heart, is my real name."

Nnamdi translates to "my father's son" or "my father's legacy," which has become one of the most important reasons that Madubuike changed back to his birth name. Although on his birth certificate, he is called Justin, his parents prefer to call him Nnamdi at home. The inspiration has come from Odafe Oweh, who in 2021, changed back to his birth name after he went by Jayson at Penn State and in his years before joining the NFL.

According to CBS Sports, Madubuike added how he has been learning from the vets for both his personal and professional life by saying, “Just learning from the older vets and stuff, I keep finding ways to get better every single year. I just started to just keep everything real in terms of my life." Madubuike further said. "After I signed my contract, I just need to keep doing that. I just felt like when I keep it real, the better player I am, the better man I am.”

“I just was like, you know, I'm going to go with my real name. So Nnamdi is my real name."

A recently signed 4-year contract extension made him one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the league. Madubuike was a game wrecker on the interior of the defensive line last season, accumulating 65 pressures, 13 sacks and 33 quarterback hits and a pressure rate of 13.4%. He played a massive role in Baltimore having the No. 1 scoring defense in the regular season. Going forward, he will go by Nnamdi, getting approval from his father to change the name.