Article: The 101 greatest nicknames in football history
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I won't paste the entire article. I only listed the Top 10.
If you want to see all 101, click the link! Enjoy!
The 101 greatest nicknames in football history
link
Thomas Neumann
July 15, 2021 9:00 am ET
Football wouldn’t be the same without nicknames.
They add spice and flavor to the sophisticated strategies, big plays and inventive touchdown celebrations that already make the game great. They also provide a bit of added mythology to the athletes whose talents never cease to amaze us.
That got us wondering about where some of the greatest players in football history — such as Reggie White (Minister of Defense), Joe Montana (Joe Cool) and Deion Sanders (Prime Time) — rank in the pantheon of great sports nicknames.
With all that in mind, Touchdown Wire presents a completely subjective look at the 101 greatest nicknames in football history.
10. Kordell "Slash" Stewart
Kordell Stewart was dubbed Slash in a nod to the many skills he wielded as a passer/runner/receiver in his early days with the Pittsburgh Steelers by broadcaster Myron Cope. Stewart, who guided the Steelers to two AFC Championship Game appearances, was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2001 season. He registered 14,746 passing yards and 77 touchdown passes in 11 seasons with the Steelers, Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. Stewart also produced 3,532 yards from scrimmage and 43 touchdowns as a runner and receiver.
9. David "Deacon" Jones
David “Deacon” Jones wanted to be noticed in football circles, and he knew that a clever nickname would go a long way toward making that happen. So it happened that Jones dubbed himself Deacon. As he told the Los Angeles Times in 1980, “Football is a violent world and Deacon has a religious connotation. I thought a name like that would be remembered.” One of the greatest pass rushers in football history, he was an anchor of the Los Angeles Rams‘ famed Fearsome Foursome defensive line alongside Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier. Jones was selected to eight Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro five times during a 14-year NFL career with the Rams, San Diego and Washington.
8. Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch
Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch boasts one of the most colorful nicknames in football history, and it was inspired by his atypical style of running. It was conceived on Oct. 17, 1942, after Hirsch and the Wisconsin Badgers beat the powerful Great Lakes Naval Station team. Chicago sportswriter Francis Powers coined the moniker, writing of Hirsch: “His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time; he looked like a demented duck.” After World War II, he turned pro with the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference. But it was with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams that he would emerge with national acclaim. Hirsch led the league with 66 receptions for 1,495 yards and 17 touchdowns in 1951, the first of three consecutive seasons in which he would be selected to the Pro Bowl. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
7. Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Legend has it that Ed Jones couldn’t find football pants long enough to fit correctly on his first day of college practice at Tennessee State. A teammate noticed and told Jones, “You’re too tall to play football.” Jones, who was listed at 6-foot-9 during his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys, wasn’t too tall to play football, of course. He contributed to two Black college football national championships at Tennessee State and became the first player from an HBCU to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. Jones played all 15 of his NFL seasons with the Cowboys, winning Super Bowl XII and earning three consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 1981-83. He was enshrined in the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
6. William Perry - The Refrigerator
It was during freshman year at Clemson University that defensive tackle William Perry first became known as the Refrigerator. Tigers teammate Ray Brown came up with the nickname, which eventually would become synonymous with Perry. “We were standing in the elevator in the dorm and he nearly took up the whole elevator,” Brown later said. “That’s when I gave him the nickname.” After a standout career at Clemson, he was drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bears. Perry exploded on the national scene as a rookie in 1985, scoring three touchdowns in goal-line situations en route to Super Bowl XX. He then memorably scored on a 1-yard plunge as the Bears steamrolled the Patriots in the big game. Perry went on to play 10 NFL seasons with the Bears and Philadelphia Eagles.
5. Marshawn Lynch - Beast Mode
The term Beast Mode, as it relates to football, evolved over the career of Marshawn Lynch in reference to his powerful running style. He wisely trademarked the phrase and cashed in on apparel sales. He also trademarked the phrase “I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” but we digress. Lynch, one of the great players to hail from the Bay Area, attended Oakland Tech and Cal before entering the NFL as a first-round pick in 2007. As a pro, he pounded out 10,413 career rushing yards and 94 total touchdowns in 12 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders.
4. Tyrann Mathieu - Honey Badger
LSU Tigers defensive back Tyrann Mathieu was just emerging as a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011 when a YouTube clip depicting the ferocity of honey badgers went viral. John Chavis, LSU’s defensive coordinator at the time, connected the two in a stroke of genius on the team’s flight home from a win at West Virginia in 2011. Mathieu went on to become a versatile standout at the professional level after being drafted in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013. He won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 season and has 23 career interceptions in his first eight NFL seasons.
3. Frank Gore - The Inconvenient Truth
At some point during his pro career, stalwart running back Frank Gore was tapped with the title of former Vice President Al Gore’s 2006 climate documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” It somehow seemed perfectly appropriate for the stout 5-foot-9, 212-pound human bowling ball out of the University of Miami. After 16 NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, Gore has compiled 16,000 rushing yards, 3,985 receiving yards and 100 total touchdowns. One of the great players to come out of talent-rich Miami, he is currently a free agent.
2. Joe Namath - Broadway Joe
Joe Namath received his famous “Broadway Joe” nickname from New York Jets teammate Sherman Plunkett, who was chiding the rookie quarterback for his 1965 appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the lights of Broadway splashed behind him. The tag couldn’t have fit better for Namath, who was known to sample New York’s nightlife on occasion. In addition to famously leading the Jets to a monumental upset victory in Super Bowl III, Namath was named to four AFL All-Star Games and one Pro Bowl during his 12 seasons with the Jets. He concluded his playing career with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977.
1. Walter Payton - Sweetness
It’s not entirely clear how the great Walter Payton came by his famous nickname, although it’s believed to date to his college days at Jackson State. But then, what’s a legendary nickname without a little mystery? Payton was one of the most gifted players in football history, a running back who seamlessly blended aggression and finesse on the field. The Chicago Bears icon retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher after the 1987 season, and his total of 16,726 rushing yards still ranks second in league history. Payton, who led the NFL in carries for consecutive seasons from 1976-79, was selected to nine Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro five times. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1993.
#HelmetHornsMatter
“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.
“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood
If you want to see all 101, click the link! Enjoy!
The 101 greatest nicknames in football history
link
Thomas Neumann
July 15, 2021 9:00 am ET
Football wouldn’t be the same without nicknames.
They add spice and flavor to the sophisticated strategies, big plays and inventive touchdown celebrations that already make the game great. They also provide a bit of added mythology to the athletes whose talents never cease to amaze us.
That got us wondering about where some of the greatest players in football history — such as Reggie White (Minister of Defense), Joe Montana (Joe Cool) and Deion Sanders (Prime Time) — rank in the pantheon of great sports nicknames.
With all that in mind, Touchdown Wire presents a completely subjective look at the 101 greatest nicknames in football history.
10. Kordell "Slash" Stewart
Kordell Stewart was dubbed Slash in a nod to the many skills he wielded as a passer/runner/receiver in his early days with the Pittsburgh Steelers by broadcaster Myron Cope. Stewart, who guided the Steelers to two AFC Championship Game appearances, was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2001 season. He registered 14,746 passing yards and 77 touchdown passes in 11 seasons with the Steelers, Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. Stewart also produced 3,532 yards from scrimmage and 43 touchdowns as a runner and receiver.
9. David "Deacon" Jones
David “Deacon” Jones wanted to be noticed in football circles, and he knew that a clever nickname would go a long way toward making that happen. So it happened that Jones dubbed himself Deacon. As he told the Los Angeles Times in 1980, “Football is a violent world and Deacon has a religious connotation. I thought a name like that would be remembered.” One of the greatest pass rushers in football history, he was an anchor of the Los Angeles Rams‘ famed Fearsome Foursome defensive line alongside Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier. Jones was selected to eight Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro five times during a 14-year NFL career with the Rams, San Diego and Washington.
8. Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch
Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch boasts one of the most colorful nicknames in football history, and it was inspired by his atypical style of running. It was conceived on Oct. 17, 1942, after Hirsch and the Wisconsin Badgers beat the powerful Great Lakes Naval Station team. Chicago sportswriter Francis Powers coined the moniker, writing of Hirsch: “His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time; he looked like a demented duck.” After World War II, he turned pro with the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference. But it was with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams that he would emerge with national acclaim. Hirsch led the league with 66 receptions for 1,495 yards and 17 touchdowns in 1951, the first of three consecutive seasons in which he would be selected to the Pro Bowl. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
7. Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Legend has it that Ed Jones couldn’t find football pants long enough to fit correctly on his first day of college practice at Tennessee State. A teammate noticed and told Jones, “You’re too tall to play football.” Jones, who was listed at 6-foot-9 during his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys, wasn’t too tall to play football, of course. He contributed to two Black college football national championships at Tennessee State and became the first player from an HBCU to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. Jones played all 15 of his NFL seasons with the Cowboys, winning Super Bowl XII and earning three consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 1981-83. He was enshrined in the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
6. William Perry - The Refrigerator
It was during freshman year at Clemson University that defensive tackle William Perry first became known as the Refrigerator. Tigers teammate Ray Brown came up with the nickname, which eventually would become synonymous with Perry. “We were standing in the elevator in the dorm and he nearly took up the whole elevator,” Brown later said. “That’s when I gave him the nickname.” After a standout career at Clemson, he was drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bears. Perry exploded on the national scene as a rookie in 1985, scoring three touchdowns in goal-line situations en route to Super Bowl XX. He then memorably scored on a 1-yard plunge as the Bears steamrolled the Patriots in the big game. Perry went on to play 10 NFL seasons with the Bears and Philadelphia Eagles.
5. Marshawn Lynch - Beast Mode
The term Beast Mode, as it relates to football, evolved over the career of Marshawn Lynch in reference to his powerful running style. He wisely trademarked the phrase and cashed in on apparel sales. He also trademarked the phrase “I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” but we digress. Lynch, one of the great players to hail from the Bay Area, attended Oakland Tech and Cal before entering the NFL as a first-round pick in 2007. As a pro, he pounded out 10,413 career rushing yards and 94 total touchdowns in 12 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders.
4. Tyrann Mathieu - Honey Badger
LSU Tigers defensive back Tyrann Mathieu was just emerging as a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011 when a YouTube clip depicting the ferocity of honey badgers went viral. John Chavis, LSU’s defensive coordinator at the time, connected the two in a stroke of genius on the team’s flight home from a win at West Virginia in 2011. Mathieu went on to become a versatile standout at the professional level after being drafted in the third round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013. He won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 season and has 23 career interceptions in his first eight NFL seasons.
3. Frank Gore - The Inconvenient Truth
At some point during his pro career, stalwart running back Frank Gore was tapped with the title of former Vice President Al Gore’s 2006 climate documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” It somehow seemed perfectly appropriate for the stout 5-foot-9, 212-pound human bowling ball out of the University of Miami. After 16 NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, Gore has compiled 16,000 rushing yards, 3,985 receiving yards and 100 total touchdowns. One of the great players to come out of talent-rich Miami, he is currently a free agent.
2. Joe Namath - Broadway Joe
Joe Namath received his famous “Broadway Joe” nickname from New York Jets teammate Sherman Plunkett, who was chiding the rookie quarterback for his 1965 appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the lights of Broadway splashed behind him. The tag couldn’t have fit better for Namath, who was known to sample New York’s nightlife on occasion. In addition to famously leading the Jets to a monumental upset victory in Super Bowl III, Namath was named to four AFL All-Star Games and one Pro Bowl during his 12 seasons with the Jets. He concluded his playing career with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977.
1. Walter Payton - Sweetness
It’s not entirely clear how the great Walter Payton came by his famous nickname, although it’s believed to date to his college days at Jackson State. But then, what’s a legendary nickname without a little mystery? Payton was one of the most gifted players in football history, a running back who seamlessly blended aggression and finesse on the field. The Chicago Bears icon retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher after the 1987 season, and his total of 16,726 rushing yards still ranks second in league history. Payton, who led the NFL in carries for consecutive seasons from 1976-79, was selected to nine Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro five times. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1993.
#HelmetHornsMatter
“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.
“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood
