We're Out of Time
From NFL to TV Stardom: Akbar Gbajabiamila on Identity, Addiction & Resilience
13 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What key life experiences shaped Akbar's identity?
I just took what I had made from the NFL and I leveraged that on myself. And then what happened? I got married. And then I had a child. And then good things started happening. No, actually no. After I got married and had a child, I actually started running out of money.
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Today on We're Out of Time, we're joined by Akbar Bajabimela. There you go. You got it. There's a B-A-M-E-L-A in there, but you got it. Bajabimela. Come on, man. Former NFL player turned television personality and Emmy-nominated host. You know him from American Ninja Warrior and from his run on the CBS daytime show, The Talk, which wrapped its series run last year.
He also co-hosts the new podcast, 154 Africa. Akbar, it's great to have you here. Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me, Richard. Is that your government name? Oh, there's more to the government name. You want the whole thing? Yes. I should make you say the whole thing. Do it. Akbar Oluwakemi Idowu Bajabiamila. Dude, that's bitchin'. Yeah, yeah. That's bitchin'. There's a story behind it.
You know, Akbar means great. Oluwakemi, you know, God pampers me. Ido Wu, born after twins, and then Bajabiamila is big man come save me. And the story is that my great-great-grandfather, this was actually a nickname. It was a nickname that became our last name. that he was a seven-foot guy who was a mediator in his village, and people would call on to him to come and help mediate.
And so that nickname then turned into a last name, and that last name is one family's last name. So everybody who has that last name is a part of this family lineage. There is no, you know, oh, there's that person with the same last name, but y'all ain't in the same family. Like, we're all part of the same family. How many? How many what? How many in your family? A lot more than I can count.
But in my immediate family that I grew up here in L.A., there's seven of us. That's one short of the optimal. Six boys, one girl. And mom and dad, they came to this country in the late 60s, early 70s, settled in Los Angeles here in L.A. And yeah, there's... That big old family. And now I've found that I have a cousin, a second cousin, who is the chief of staff to the president of Nigeria.
No kidding. Yeah, Femi Baja Biamila. Have you talked to him? No, but I'm looking forward to meeting him for the first time very soon when I go to Nigeria. Have you been? I've been to Nigeria before. How is it? You know, when I went, I went for the first time with my father, and it was so cool. It was a while back. It was back in 2006.
And it was probably the coolest experience I've had in all my life, all my travels. I've done 41 countries. But Nigeria, not just because it's home. And this was the story of my mother and my father. But I'll never forget. We land in Myrtilla Muhammad Airport and we set up at the hotel. The next day we go to to see my grandmother. This would be my first time meeting my grandmother.
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Chapter 2: How did Akbar transition from the NFL to broadcasting?
And calling his mom, who had been to Mecca, so she gets the name Alaji. And she goes, who's there, who's there? He's like, Emi, Emi Mustafa, Emi, saying, it's me, Mustafa. She goes... She kept saying, who, my Mustafa? No, no, wait, my Mustafa? She's saying in Yoruba. And it was the first time in my life I had seen my dad as a child.
I had never, like, he was just always dad, this big figure to me. And I had never seen him as a child. Like, wait, what? I knew it was my grandmother, right? Like logically, oh, that's my grandmother, you know. You see him revert back into his child when he was in the presence of his mother. Yes. And it was something I will never, ever forget.
And then he started telling me stories about when he would sneak out the house. And I was like, you snuck out? Wait, what? It was just crazy. And the look on her eyes. How come she didn't recognize your dad? Because he hadn't been home in 32 years. He hadn't come home in 32 years. And just the struggles of making it in America, raising seven kids, time just goes by. And I thought the same thing.
How does 32 years? 32 years can go by really, really fast. I know. And it sounds like a lot. I look at my daughter now, just turned 16 years old. I'm going...
how did i get to 16 years like you know i've got a 16 year old daughter too oh yeah it's the same thing same thing and on the way to drop them off to school this morning that's what i thought yeah it happens fast i was in hawaii uh during the summer for my daughter's volleyball tournament
And I've always had this thing, because of this trip with my father, that I want to take my kids to Nigeria before they get to college. I want them to have core memory of it. Absolutely. And when I say I was flooded with anxiety, because I was like, wait, if I don't take her this summer...
then she's gonna go to college and then this and she's gonna have her life and then and before you know it I'm gonna miss this opportunity and in my mind I thought oh I'll have time when they get a little older they can remember it and then they get a little over and then they got this and they got that I was like I don't care what sports whatever I called the coach I said coach
I'm letting you know we're planning this trip. We're going to Nigeria. And, like, I don't care what happens. I'm taking them out of school. Like, it has to happen. Otherwise, life just keeps going. And it feels like you can never really, you know, catch up because something's always happening.
And not only that, but you're, for lack of a better word, you're going to get cock blocked by the school. And, you know. Everybody's got their agenda. No, we can't miss this. Man, there's always a million reasons to not do something. There's only one reason to do it. And that's just because it's right. Yeah.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Akbar face after leaving the NFL?
You want to know what? Because I was thinking, I was hoping that maybe she saw... You become the man you became. And maybe she saw her grandchildren. Yeah. That sucks, dude. No, she actually, crazy enough, her first... God, that hurts. Yeah, her first grandchild, my brother, Kabir, his first child was born the day my mom passed away.
So she lived long enough to know that she had a grandchild but died later that evening in a car accident. Yeah. She died in a car accident? Died in a car accident. Trump driver? Yeah. Yep. So, yeah. But how long has your dad been sick? Since officially diagnosed in 2000 with Parkinson's. 1998, he was misdiagnosed. But then in 2000, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
And, you know, he's been battling that since. He must be so proud of you. Yeah, he is. You know, my father's a man of many, a few words, but he is. I'll never forget when he first told me he was proud of me. And that meant everything because he didn't use that, you know, like all the time. And so to hear it,
I think hearing I'm proud of you a thousand times is not as impactful of when you save it for the right time. So my dad telling me that time that he was proud of me, it sticks with me today because I know he meant it. When he said it, he meant it. You know, I think now, you know, in this pandemic,
over parenting culture of you got to do this you got to do that you got to do this you got to do that I think we say I know I certainly have said that to my kids all the time I use it and now it's kind of like do they even know if I'm really proud of them because I've used it so much oh please I say that to my kids all day long I'm so proud of you I love you so much it doesn't mean anything yeah but I think it means something when you save it for the right time for sure yeah for sure let me ask you a question okay
What was a bigger deal to you, being in the NFL or doing the talk? I would say playing in the NFL was a bigger deal just because I didn't dream of playing in the NFL as a kid. I dreamed of playing in the NBA. You showed me some special shoes that you had before you even pulled them out. These were some special 1987 Converse shoes. Weapons. The weapons. Yeah.
And those stand out in my mind because I remember the Magic Johnson and the Larry Bird commercials, him getting out of the limousine. I was a massive basketball fan growing up. That was my life. I was going to be playing next to Matt Johnson. So immediately, I saw him before he pulled him off. Boom. I know what these are.
And so I always knew that I was going to play in the NBA, but that didn't happen. Fate would have it that I would be forced to play football and then turn to like football and then grow to love football and then play in the NFL.
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Chapter 4: How did Akbar overcome addiction to painkillers?
And the reason why I say it's a bigger deal is just because that's the only thing that I know that I'd worked so hard for for so long and to see it actually materialize. And there's this finite amount of time that you can play pro ball. And so to work for something and to actually achieve making, to become a professional athlete was, and still is one of the professional highlights of my life.
What were you a defensive end? Defensive end. Do you ever get, do you ever get a sack? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, now, now. Yeah. Okay. What was a bigger deal getting your first sack or your Emmy? Well, nominated for an Emmy, so I still have never won an Emmy. Oh, then the question sucks, Lisa. Emmy nominated. Emmy nominated, yeah. It doesn't count.
But even if I did get an Emmy, it would have still been that first sack. For sure. Because I still remember Warren Sapp looking over to me like... You popped your first cherry. I was like, what? What are you talking about? You popped your first cherry. Because I was just in the moment. I didn't even realize I got the sack. I was just, I got him. Ah, yeah. Like, you know, it was just a big moment.
And when I come off to the sideline, that was the first thing he said to me was you popped your cherry. Like, you got your first sack. Like, wait, you've been keeping up on my stats? He was so great. Warren Sapp was so great. For some reason, I don't know, somebody can check this, but I want to say he was drafted 12th for some reason because of that whole marijuana thing.
I bet those 11 other teams just want to light themselves on fire.
about well i don't remember when he was drafted or you know what number he went but i do know he was a dominant force he was so he was a dominant force yeah what a star what a star all right anybody from the u as a star where'd you go san diego state the san diego state university with marshall falk uh i didn't go when marshall falk was there but i went there with kyle turley e from salam
Kyle Turley, isn't he? No, no, that's not the Turley running back from Georgia. No, no, that's Gurley. Yeah, Gurley. Kyle Turley, Ephraim Salaam, Oz Akeem, who played with Marshall Falk on The Greatest Show on Turf. My brother, he played for the Green Bay Packers and San Diego State. We had a lot of guys. What's your brother's last name? Same last name, Bajabia Miller, but they called him KGB.
In fact, it was John Madden who gave him the nickname KGB because he said... I just can't say the last name. By the time I start trying to get to his name, they're on to the next play. So he just called him KGB and it stuck. All right. That was good. So when I was in high school, I played football. And when I stopped playing, I had an identity crisis because that's where I hung my hat. Yep.
Right. I can't imagine playing in the NFL and then not going through an identity crisis and going through some type of depression before you were into your next thing. How did that work? The depression is deeper and deeper the further you go along.
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Chapter 5: What inspired Akbar to launch his podcast 'One54 Africa'?
From high school, you've only technically committed maybe six, seven years of your life into this identity. And then by the time you get to college, that ramps up to about 11 years. And then if you make it to the pros, on average, it's about two and a half years. Let's say you played four or five years like I did.
Now you're looking at 17, 19 years of your life was kind of really put into this window of you've dedicated everything. And they say this, that... What NFL players, professional athletes in general, when they leave the game and through identity crisis is the same thing that happens when older people retire. And when older people retire, they've been on this job for 20 years, 30 years.
And then when they retire, they go, wait, wait. Nobody needs me the same way. They're not counting on me. What do I do? My kids are grown. And you're going through this entire identity crisis. Who am I? What am I? I woke up every day with a mission to go accomplish X, Y, and Z. And so the only difference is that
you're 25, 26, 27 years old and you're going, wait a second, I poured everything I had into making it to the pros and what did I sacrifice? You have to sacrifice something to gain something. And you sacrifice all the extracurriculars. But now it's over. And now it's over. And you're now stuck with what do I do? How do I do it?
you know people see you a certain way people only want to put you in a certain box and you're trying to break out of that box so how did you do that how'd you go first of all so you're done so you're done with football what are you getting into next how long was that gap before you figured it out and you said oh this is my next job i moved through pain is really what i did in order for me to transition i had to move through pain i was down in the dumps you know i remember not wanting to leave my house
I would go out at nighttime so nobody would recognize me. Not that I was super famous, but in San Diego, when I retired, I went home. Like it's just, people always ask me, you still play, you can still play. And I'm like, gosh, I don't want to answer this anymore. But what I did was I took a leap of faith.
And even though I was feeling all of this sadness, I said, let me take the equity that I built up in my life so far, which was in sports and let me try to leverage that. So I went to a local station in San Diego, NBC seven 39. And I asked, Hey, Can I do the Aztecs and the Chargers post-game show and I'll do it for free as a broadcaster?
And I knew that I didn't have a big enough name like some of the big Hall of Famers and playoff guys or like my brother. So I had to figure out what I call the backdoor approach. And I needed to create some sort of internship for myself. So I did that. And in that process, they let me do it because I was doing it for free. That's great. Yeah.
I had a little bit of money that I had saved up to where I'm like, all right, I'll just bet on myself. And so I then started to really kind of invest myself in growing there. It's suffocated the pain a little bit because I was busy and I wasn't occupied with what what I was going to do next. But that was a real part. And that that time took about you. But it took me about a year.
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Chapter 6: How does Akbar view the impact of substance use on mental health?
I had a high school coach, Coach Duck. We called him Maurice Duckett. And he was like, how badly do you want it? How badly do you want it? How badly do you want it? He used to always ask that question. And that's how badly I wanted it. I was like, all right, I'm going to do it for free. And it's not lost on me because I think some people, well, you could do that. Yeah, I did.
I had made a decent amount of money. Not a lot. I was an undrafted free agent. So it was not like I was balling in the millions or anything like that. But I just took what I had made from the NFL and I leveraged that on myself. So you go ahead and you work for two years for free and then you move over to this other place for 26 grand a year. 26 grand a year. And then what happened?
I got married, you know, and then I had a child. And then good things started happening. No, actually, no. After I got married and, you know, and had a child. I actually started running out of money and the next year I was making $28,500 and my money was just dwindling down.
I had gotten down to my last $40,000 left in my bank account after playing in the NFL because I worked for free for two years. I had gotten married, you know, you know, kid on the way, you know, well, kid was born then at that time, you know, so now all of a sudden life just accelerated. Everything just started costing. At one point I moved back in 2010.
I had moved back to Crenshaw in the neighborhood that I grew up in and I'm living in my dad's house. I'm living in my dad's house and I lived there for six years until I was able to kind of get back on my feet with my wife and my kids. So my kids grew up part of their life. They grew up in the same home, which was also an honor, but they grew up in the home that I grew up in.
And I remember my wife looking to me and going like, do you think you're chasing a pipe dream here? Like, you know, you're going at it, but like, you know, the bills are adding up, stuff is stacking up on top of us. And I was like, all right, maybe you're right. And so I took a detour. I went to go sell artificial turf for a year.
Went to go sell artificial turf, making $70,000 a year just so I could keep things moving forward because I wasn't making enough. But you weren't doing the other stuff when you were selling the turf. No, no, no. I told my wife that was it. I wasn't going to do the broadcasting thing anymore. I had spent enough time in it and it just wasn't mapping. So you spent a year doing that. Yep.
And then I hid. from my wife. I had gotten a call from my agents like, hey, there's this audition over at the NFL Network. And I was like, oh, shoot. And I'm supposed to go sell this turf. Let me just make a detour. Yeah, F the turf. Yeah, yeah. I sneak my suit into my car. That's right. I go do it. The audition, I mean, big names stacked up. I'm going... I said, forget it.
I'm just going to do it. I just threw everything I had into it.
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Chapter 7: What insights does Akbar share about resilience and reinvention?
I walked out, went to go sell turf, more turf, try to go meet my appointments that I were late to. And I get a phone call about a week or two later saying, you got the job. And from that point, it's what started my entertainment career because the year after I got... uh, the NFL network, I got American Ninja Warrior, American Ninja Warrior catapulted.
And then it would have it that, you know, years later I would get my main, what to me was one of the, like one of my biggest goals was to be on a talk show was to get the talk and to be able to be a, uh, one of the host of, of the talk. That's so cool. Yeah. So you want to know what I always tell people? What's that? I tell people that children don't cost you money. They make you money.
And it made you money too. Oh, I see what you, yeah. That's a really, yeah, that's a good point. That's a really good point. Yeah. Yeah. Cause it puts, it lights a fire under your butt. Like, oh my goodness. Sure. Because we're the dad now. Yeah. Right. And you were like, I'm down to my last 40 grand. And people are like, oh, that's, you've got 40 grand. No, no, that's scary.
When you've got kids and a wife and you're in your father's home and you're down to your last 40 clicks, you're having a bad day. And you're seeing, you know, people, and to your point, people might see it like, oh man, I wish I had. Well, the rate in which living in Los Angeles and the rate in which that number was going down, I didn't see 40. I saw zero. That's right.
I already knew where this number was just, I couldn't stop it. It was just a free fall. Because it was 200 like six months ago.
Yeah.
Yeah. Right. Have you seen any of your talk co-hosts lately? Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I just went out to dinner with all of them except for Jerry because Jerry's filming right now. How is everyone? Everyone's good. I think we're all making the adjustments to the new day and new era in entertainment and figuring out what that is.
You know, as you probably already know, I've heard and had conversations like. You know, this is an industry that has been a legacy industry for so long. It has been the backbone of Los Angeles. But, you know, production and all of that has changed in L.A. a lot. And so, you know, we had conversation about like, what's our pivot?
What's the ways that we're going to try to create and do something new and different? And that's been the big challenge right now in Hollywood is like, how do you pivot? The last time I made a pivot like this was coming out of the NFL and into broadcasting, like trying to figure it out. But it's hard when there's a lot of noise around you. It's so hard to concentrate.
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Chapter 8: What does Akbar love most about Nigeria and his heritage?
But what I heard in my uncle's voice was, wow. And I said, well, why don't we start telling those stories? So it's not just in Nigeria. But people of Ghana and Egypt and Congo and all over the diaspora, we want to be able to tell their stories. And so this season, we've been telling a lot of the Nigerian stories.
And now we're getting ready to turn and start to tell the stories of the people from other countries, from Sierra Leone and from Mali and from Burkina Faso, from Sudan to Somalia, Eritrea, all over. I've been to nine countries in Africa. And it's my hope that I will be able to visit all 54 countries.
I think the best way to carry it on is use the platform that I know how to, you know, to use and being able to multiply and share, you know, around for everyone. People are really finding it love, you know, finding love in it because there is the commonality, but then there are also the little bit of the secret sauce and kind of like what drives a lot of the first gens and second gens.
What do you love most about Nigeria? You may not start out in the beginning, but you definitely will not finish last. And so just because you don't start off strong, you don't start off first, but you will never carry last. And that is a very popular saying.
and i love that because it's been the story of my life you know got into the nfl's undrafted free agent got into broadcasting with not having a big name you know coming in from sports you know taking that career and then trying to find a way in entertainment not being a A-lister and figuring out a way to kind of continue moving forward. Dude, you act like you ain't got nothing going for you.
You walk in here, you're handsome as all get out. You're 6'6". Okay, you got a smile that lights up a room. I mean, did you ever think maybe the guy in that back room was like, yeah, just take the handsome guy. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I never think about it like that, but I do. I wear this chip on my shoulder as an underdog because I do feel like an underdog. That's fraudulent.
No, it's not fraudulent. No, it is. You think it's real, but to everybody else who sees you, it's fraudulent. Really? How so? Because when people look at you, they're like, oh, he's special. He's a special man. He's an elegant man. He's somebody. Someone who is comfortable in their own skin.
Let's talk about, um, brain injuries in the NFL, because I just got done on, uh, Dr. Amen's podcast and he was on mine. We're running it now. And it's a great, it was fascinating. He's great. He's he's magnificent. You know, I learned a lot on, uh, uh, speaking to Dr. Amen, but.
I was watching the NFL the other day and there's always that one guy and he's usually a wide receiver and he's usually in the slot, right? Who's got the big fat helmet, the big fat helmet. Okay. Now I get it. you either have to make everybody wear that, right, or nobody wear it. Because if everyone's not wearing it, the one guy wearing it is getting grief, right?
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