‘It’s like you’ve been in a car crash’: Efe Obada on brutal reality of NFL life

The Washington defensive end on the physical costs of the NFL, the joy of sacks and why he is a fan of flag football

Efe Obada knows the joy of sacks, the most disruptive play in American football. He has tackled Jalen Hurts, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles who play the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's Super Bowl. He has brought down Tom Brady, the recently retired seven-time winner of the National Football League's greatest prize. They are victims to make any player proud.

For Obada, the Nigeria-born Washington Commanders defensive end raised in foster care in London after being abandoned on the streets aged 10 by a woman his mother paid to move him and his sister from the Netherlands, they also chart a remarkable rise. But Obada, now a veteran of five NFL seasons, is frank about the costs of this most brutal, but tactically intricate of sports.