Greatest NFL Names of All Time
Let's celebrate football names.There have been more than 25,000 players in NFL history. That’s more than 25,000 name combinations. Some have been simple names while others have been some of the most unique names you’ve ever heard. For every Ed Reed or Tom Brady, there’s been a D’Brickashaw Ferguson or T.J. Houshmandzadeh. (Maybe the ratio isn’t exactly like that, but play along.)
We’ve gone through the NFL archives and picked out the best of the best of NFL names. Players made the cut for having names that are one of a kind like Plaxico Burress. Others got the call for having a connection to pop culture a la John Conner. And some players are on the all-name team because their names sound exactly like who they are as football players.
These are the greatest player names in NFL history.
50. Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Halapoulivaati Vaitai was born in Haltom, Texas.Position: Offensive tackle
Career: 4 years (2016-present)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions
Stats: 55 G, 20 GS
Championships: 1 (2017)
Bottom line: Both teammates and the media refer to Vaitai as "Big V," and you can clearly see why.
Six syllable first names don’t exactly roll off the tongue, and Big V admits that when signing autographs, after a while he’ll just write "H Vaitai" and save himself 13 letters.
But the best part of Vaitai’s name is that he has twin brothers simply named Kevin and William.
49. Guy Whimper
Guy Whimper played in 79 NFL games.Position: Offensive tackle
Career: 7 years (2006-13)
Teams: New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers
Stats: 78 G, 24 GS
Championships: 1 (2007)
Bottom line: There are players on this list like Mack Strong and Bronko Nagurski that just scream football player. Guy Whimper? Not so much.
It could have been worse if his name was Guy Whimpier, but he wasn’t a guy who whimpered out on the field.
Although the 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle was a backup lineman for most of his career, he did pick up a Super Bowl ring thanks to being on the 2007 New York Giants.
48. Prince Amukamara
Prince Amukamara played his college ball at Nebraska.Position: Cornerback
Career: 9 years (2011-present)
Teams: New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 477 TKL, 10 INT, 6 FF, 1 TD
Championships: 1 (2011)
Bottom line: Sorry to disappoint, but Prince Amukamara wasn’t named after the famed singer Prince. Amukamara's grandfather is a king in Nigeria while his father is a chief.
Prince is next in line, and his five sisters have similar royal names that begin with "P": Princess, Promise, Peace, Precious and Passionate. Amukamara got lots of "Coming to America" jokes when he was drafted since he’s a prince that moved to New York City just like Eddie Murphy’s character.
But Amukamara developed into a solid NFL cornerback. He won a Super Bowl as a rookie with the Giants and was a starter for eight straight years with three teams. In 2020, he signed a one-year deal with the Raiders.
47. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala
Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala had a bruising running style.Position: Running back
Career: 7 years (1998-2004)
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars
Stats: 964 YDS, 8 TD, 4.2 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: In order to get the 14 letters, hyphen and apostrophe in Fuamatu-Ma’afala’s name on the back of a jersey, a smaller than normal font was required during design.
His nickname of "Fu" was much easier to pronounce although we have to also give credit to the late Stuart Scott for saying "that’s a bad Ma’afala" while narrating his highlights.
46. Pierre Garcon
Pierre Garcon caught 628 passes in his career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 11 years (2008-18)
Teams: Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers
Stats: 628 REC, 7,854 YDS, 38 TD, 12.5 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Pierre Garcon is of Haitian descent, and his name is just dripping with French influence. His name literally translates to "Rock Boy," but Garcon was more like a man of rock on the football field.
He was a wide receiver by trade who played like a running back after he got the ball in his hands.
Garcon’s biggest play was catching a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLIV, which was Peyton Manning’s only touchdown pass in the game, to his team.
45. Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber was a second-round draft pick (No. 36 overall) in the 1997 NFL draft.Position: Running back
Career: 10 years (1997-2006)
Teams: New York Giants
Stats: 2,217 ATT, 10,449 YDS, 55 TD, 4.7 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Tiki Barber’s real name is Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah Barber, which means "fiery-tempered king" because he started screaming shortly after birth. His twin brother Ronde’s real name is Jamael Oronde, which means "firstborn son" since he’s seven minutes older than Tiki.
The younger Barber was a star running back for the Giants, but he seemed to always have non-football interests that often rubbed teammates and fans the wrong way.
He retired after the 2006 season, and the Giants won the Super Bowl the next season with many saying Tiki’s retirement was "addition by subtraction."
44. Rocky Boiman
Rocky Boiman won a ring with the Colts.Position: Linebacker
Career: 8 years (2002-09)
Teams: Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers
Stats: 267 TKL, 1.5 SACK, 5 INT, 1 TD
Championships: 1 (2006)
Bottom line: Most "Rockys" are actually "Roberts" or "Rogers," but Boiman’s actual first name is Rocky.
If that wasn’t enough, would you believe that he actually played in the city where the name Rocky means more than anywhere else? In 2008, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Rocky, which spurred lots of clever headlines in the city despite Boiman being a career backup.
But this Rocky’s stay in Philly wasn’t as good as his famous namesake, and Boiman was cut before the season began.
43. John Conner
John Conner went to the University of Kentucky.Position: Fullback
Career: 5 years (2010-14)
Teams: New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants
Stats: 27 ATT, 108 YDS, 2 TD, 4.0 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: When you share the same name as an infamous character from the Terminator series, you also inherit the nickname of "The Terminator."
That nickname wouldn’t work with players at every position – no one is calling a kicker "Terminator."
But it worked for Conner, who was a fullback whose main job was to annihilate whoever was in front of him.
42. Plaxico Burress
Plaxico Burress scored 64 touchdowns in his career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 11 years (2000-08, 2011-12)
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, New York Jets
Stats: 553 REC, 8,499 YDS, 64 TD, 15.4 AVG
Championships: 1 (2007)
Bottom line: Plaxico Burress was named after his uncle, who was another Plaxico, although the former wide receiver is unsure of the name’s origin. But he is sure that many people have messed up his name over the years.
He’s been called everything from Texaco to Flexico. Shannon Sharpe even jabbed him once by referring to him as "Plexiglass" while the two were part of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.
Regardless, whenever you hear the name Plaxico Burress, two things come to mind, and they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. There’s the game-winning touchdown catch in the Giants' Super Bowl XLII upset of the 18-0 Patriots. And there’s also Burress accidentally shooting himself in a nightclub, which signaled the end of his Giants tenure and resulted in a two-year prison sentence.
41. Captain Munnerlyn
Captain Munnerlyn runs a 4.51 40-yard dash.Position: Defensive back
Career: 10 years (2009-18)
Teams: Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings
Stats: 529 TKL, 12 INT, 10 SK, 6 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Captain Munnerlyn was named after his great-great-grandfather, who also was a Captain.
At first, Munnerlyn wasn’t a fan of the name because he got teased in school, but he learned to embrace it by becoming a leader.
He’s hoping his sons embrace their names in the same manner. One is also named Captain, and the other is named Champ.
40. Mack Strong
Mack Strong rushed for 909 yards in his career.Position: Fullback
Career: 14 years (1994-2007)
Teams: Seattle Seahawks
Stats: 909 YDS, 5 TD, 4.0 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: If your name is Mack Strong, you either grow up to become a pro wrestler or an NFL fullback.
Strong chose the latter and is one of three fullbacks to play at least 200 NFL games.
He was a two-time Pro Bowler and blocked for 10 straight 1,000-yard running backs with the Seahawks.
39. Ndamukong Suh
Ndamukong Suh was the second overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.Position: Defensive tackle
Career: 10 years (2010-present)
Teams: Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Stats: 519 TKL, 58.5 SK, 4 FF, 3 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Ndamukong translates to "House of Spears," and Suh has been a deadly weapon on the field throughout his career.
He’s a five-time Pro Bowler and has been disrupting opposing backfields since entering the league.
But sometimes his reckless play can be disruptive to his bank account. Suh has been fined 14 times during his career for nearly $700,000.
38. Orleans Darkwa
Orleans Darkwa average 4.2 yards per carry during his career.Position: Running back
Career: 4 years (2014-17)
Teams: Miami Dolphins, New York Giants
Stats: 246 ATT, 1,038 YDS, 9 TD, 4.2 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: You would think that with a name like Orleans, Darkwa must have been born in The Crescent City. But he’s actually from Nashville and is of Ghanaian descent.
Darkwa never suited up for the Saints, either. That would have been a dream for the team’s marketing department. But he still does have one tie to New Orleans.
Darkwa attended Tulane University, which is in New Orleans, and you can only imagine all of the jokes he heard while on campus.
37. Nickell Robey-Coleman
Nickell Robey-Coleman began his NFL career in 2013.Position: Cornerback
Career: 7 years (2013-present)
Teams: Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams
Stats: 289 TKL, 6 INT, 5 SK, 3 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Robey-Coleman’s parents must have been on to something. Their son named Nickell became a nickel cornerback.
Of course, Saints fans know the name of Nickell Robey-Coleman. He was the Rams player who infamously and obviously interfered with a Saints receiver in the 2018 NFC championship game.
Robey-Coleman knows he got away with one, but he later admitted that there should have been a pass interference penalty.
36. T.J. Houshmandzadeh
T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught 627 passes in his career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 11 years (2001-11)
Teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 627 REC, 7,237 YDS, 44 TD, 11.5 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s name was immortalized in a legendary fantasy football commercial where a guy mispronounced his name in every way possible.
The Madden video game also had problems with his surname as earlier editions of the game had a 12-character limit for names appearing on the backs of jerseys.
If there’s ever a spelling bee for NFL names, Houshmandzadeh should be a name used in the final round.
35. Frostee Rucker
Frostee Rucker had 21.5 career sacks.Position: Defensive end
Career: 12 years (2007-18)
Teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 296 TKL, 21.5 SK, 8 FF, 1 INT
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Rucker likely got teased quite often as a kid for being named Frostee, but that teasing also likely stopped as he grew to be 6 feet 3 inches and 280 pounds.
As for his name’s origin, his dad was a disc jockey and was nicknamed DJ Frost because he was so cold on the 1s and 2s.
So instead of waiting for his son to be nicknamed Lil' Frost or something similar, DJ Frost beat everyone to it by naming his first-born Frostee.
34. Koy Detmer
Koy Detmer was a career backup with the Eagles.Career: 9 years (1998-2006)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles
Stats: 1,944 YDS, 10 TD, 14 INT, 61.2 RAT
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Someone who is coy with a "C" is considered shy or bashful.
Well, Koy Detmer, who was Donovan McNabb’s longtime backup, was anything but bashful whenever he threw a touchdown pass.
He had a touchdown dance he called "whippin' it" in which he would simulate whipping off a belt and then, well, it’s easier to watch the celebration than describe it.
33. T.J. Slaughter
T.J. Slaughter made 252 tackles in 78 career games.Position: Linebacker
Career: 7 (2000-06)
Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers
Stats: 252 TKL, 2 SK, 1 INT
Championships: 0
Bottom line: T.J. Slaughter is the perfect name for a linebacker.
Slaughter’s first name is Tavaris, but shortening it to T.J. removes one syllable and allows you to get to the meat and potatoes of his name.
Slaughter spent most of his career as a backup before becoming an actor in retirement during his post-football career.
32. Lawyer Milloy
The Patriots drafted Lawyer Milloy in the second round (No. 36 overall) in 1996.Position: Defensive back
Career: 15 years (1996-2010)
Teams: New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks
Stats: 1,439 TKL, 25 INT, 21 SK, 1 TD
Championships: 1 (2001)
Bottom line: There was actually an NFL player named Lawyer who proceeded Milloy, but this Lawyer was the best in NFL history.
He’s one of 15 members of the 20/20 club, recording more than 20 sacks and 20 picks in his career. And he was also one of Bill Belichick’s favorite players.
The notoriously grumpy head coach offered high praise to Milloy and said cutting him in 2003 was the hardest release he ever had to make in his NFL career.
31. Na’il Diggs
Na'il Diggs made a lot of plays during his career.Position: Linebacker
Career: 12 years (2000-11)
Teams: Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers
Stats: 679 TKL, 11.5 SK, 5 INT, 4 FF
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Pronounced Ny-el, Diggs has heard his name mispronounced from Nail to Neal to Nell.
It means "the successful one" in Arabic, and Diggs certainly lived up to its meaning both on and off the field.
He is a licensed pilot with an aviation degree, survived 11 years as an NFL starter and is on the board of directors of a meditation company.
30. Forrest Lamp
Forrest Lamp made his NFL debut in 2017.Position: Offensive guard
Career: 3 years (2017-present)
Teams: Los Angeles Chargers
Stats: 9 G, 2 GS
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Forrest Lamp was born just weeks before the release of Forrest Gump — so you can connect the dots if you wish — but the real star of his name is his surname. That’s because it’s made him money.
Shortly before becoming a second-round pick in 2017, Lamp signed an endorsement deal with the lighting retailer "Lamp’s Plus."
No word on if he’s gotten any offers to endorse forests yet.
29. Ras-I Dowling
Ras-I Dowling, right, had a brief NFL career.Position: Defensive back
Career: 3 years (2011-12, 2014)
Teams: New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 11 TKL, 0 INT, 1 PD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Not to be confused with Ra’s al Ghul of Batman fame, Ras-I Dowling is the rare player with a hyphenated first name.
His dad picked out the name because he was a huge boxing fan and followed the career of former WBA lightweight champion Ras-I Bramble. But Bramble was born with the first name of Livingston before changing it while Dowling has been a Ras-I since birth.
Dowling’s name was much more interesting than his NFL career. Despite being the 33rd overall pick in the 2011 draft, he played just 12 games in his entire career.
28. Wonder Monds
Wonder Monds played at Nebraska before going to the NFL.Position: Defensive back
Career: 1 year (1978)
Teams: San Francisco 49ers
Stats: 16 G
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Wonder Monds' real name is Wonderful Terrific Monds Jr. No, seriously. He could have gone with his middle name and shortened it to Terry, but he chose to shorten his first name, and we are all in wonder.
Monds has a son that also played in the NFL named Mario, but he kept the Wonderful Terrific lineage going by giving his other son that name, and Wonderful Terrific Monds III played some minor league baseball in the 1990s and 2000s.
27. Quentin Jammer
Quentin Jammer had 21 career interceptions.Position: Defensive back
Career: 12 years (2002-13)
Teams: San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos
Stats: 735 TKL, 21 INT, 7 FF, 2 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: If Quentin Jammer played any position besides cornerback, then he wouldn’t be on this list. But he played the position where he’s required to "jam" opposing wide receivers and he excelled at doing that.
At six feet tall and over 200 pounds, Jammer was the prototypical bump-and-run cornerback who would jam receivers at the line of scrimmage to throw off their routes.
Ironically, he had a brother and two cousins who also played in the NFL, but none of their surnames were Jammer.
26. Bacarri Rambo
Bacarri Rambo played on three NFL teams.Position: Free safety
Career: 4 years (2013-16)
Teams: Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins
Stats: 151 TKL, 4 INT, 2 SK, 2 FF
Championships: 0
Bottom line: While the origin of Bacarri is unclear, anyone over 30 years old knows about Rambo.
Sylvester Stallone’s infamous character John Rambo was a reckless Vietnam veteran and some of the characteristics he possessed would be useful in a football player.
Bacarri Rambo had an uneventful NFL career with the highlight being named AFC Defensive Player of the Week during the 2015 season.
25. Will Shields
Will Shields was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.Position: Offensive guard
Career: 14 years (1993-2006)
Teams: Kansas City Chiefs
Stats: 223 GS, 12-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Will blocks. Will protects. And Will Shields his quarterback from the defense.
Shields had the perfect name for an offensive lineman, and he was nearly the perfect player. He never missed a game in his 14-year career and paved rushing lanes for Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.
Shields was equally as good off the field and is a former winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
24. Ebenezer Ekuban
Ebenezer Ekuban retired in 2008.Position: Defensive end
Career: 9 years (1999-2008)
Teams: Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Denver Nuggets
Stats: 281 TKL, 36.5 SK, 7 FF
Championships: 0
Bottom line: A video game developer once described Ebenezer Ekuban as the perfect name for an evil wizard, and we can’t disagree.
The Ghanaian-born Ekuban is the only player in NFL history to have the name of either Ebenezer or Ekuban.
While it’s fun to think he was named after Ebenezer Scrooge, Ekuban was likely named after Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, who was once the foreign minister of Ghana.
23. Craphonso Thorpe
Craphonso Thorpe caught 12 passes in his NFL career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 1 year (2007)
Teams: Indianapolis Colts
Stats: 12 REC, 70 YDS, 1 TD, 5.8 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Craig Alphonso Thorpe liked his first and middle names so much that he combined them and passed them onto his son. But Craphonso disliked the name so much – particularly the first four letters – that he prefers to go by "Cro."
Thorpe caught one touchdown pass in his career, and it came during Peyton Manning’s heyday with the Colts.
However, Manning had been pulled from the game, so Thorpe’s touchdown was via backup Jim Sorgi.
22. Phillip Supernaw
Phillip Supernaw caught one touchdown pass in his NFL career.Position: Tight end
Career: 6 years (2012-17)
Teams: Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans
Stats: 14 REC, 163 YDS, 1 TD, 11.6 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Supernaw is one of those names that you hear on TV and go, "Wait, a super what?" No one is quite sure what a Supernaw is or even what a regular naw is, but the name just sounds cool.
Phillip Supernaw was a backup tight end for six years and caught one touchdown pass, but he’s been more successful in his post-NFL career.
He recently married Miss Arkansas.
21. Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy went 7-21 in 28 NFL starts.Position: Quarterback
Career: 10 years (2010-present)
Teams: Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins
Stats: 6,080 YDS, 29 TD, 27 INT, 78.4 RAT
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Colt McCoy sounds like the protagonist of a Western movie who’s tasked with saving the town from being run amok.
He’s been jokingly referred to as The Real McCoy and while he was a two-time All-American in college at Texas, he’s been a journeyman backup in the NFL.
But there’s no shame in that. Despite winning just one game as a starter in seven seasons, he’s made over $15 million since 2012.
20. Lincoln Kennedy
Lincoln Kennedy was a three-time Pro Bowler.Position: Offensive tackle/guard
Career: 11 years (1993-2003)
Teams: Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 141 GS, three-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: You can’t have a more presidential name than Lincoln Kennedy whose first name was actually Tamerlane, but he went by his middle name of Lincoln. Kennedy once joked that he knows he’s going to die by assassination seeing as both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy passed in that manner.
If two presidents weren’t enough, Kennedy added a third one to his resume in college by attending out of all places, Washington. Lincoln Kennedy from Washington.
19. Whitney Mercilus
Whitney Mercilus was a first-round pick (No. 26 overall) out of Illinois in the 2012 NFL draft.Position: Linebacker
Career: 8 years (2012-present)
Teams: Houston Texans
Stats: 324 TKL, 50.0 SK, 13 FF
Championships: 0
Bottom line: "Merciless" is defined as being cruel and showing no mercy.
That is exactly the type of mentality you would want from a pass-rusher, and Whitney Mercilus lives up to his name.
Although he plays in the shadow of J.J. Watt, Mercilus has racked up 50 sacks in his career and is one of just 10 linebackers to reach that total since 2012.
18. Jack Youngblood
Jack Youngblood is a Hall of Famer.Position: Defensive end
Career: 14 years (1971-84)
Teams: Los Angeles Rams
Stats: 187 GS, 24 SK, seven-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: There’s been several Youngbloods and Truebloods in the NFL, but only one of them is a Hall of Famer like Herbert Jackson Youngblood III.
He was a part of the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line during the 1970s and unofficially had 151.5 sacks during his career.
But the single greatest moment of Youngblood’s career may be when he gutted it out on a broken leg and sacked Roger Staubach during a playoff game.
17. Conrad Dobler
Conrad Dobler was known as a troublemaker when he played.Position: Offensive guard
Career: 10 years (1972-81)
Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills
Stats: 125 GS, three-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: "Conrad Dobler" is a gritty and grimy sounding name, and Dobler’s style of play was befitting.
He was one of the best offensive linemen of his era but also one of the dirtiest players in NFL history. Sports Illustrated even labeled him as such when they called him pro football’s dirtiest player.
Dobler reveled in pushing the envelope and didn’t mind physically hurting his opponent as long as it helped his team win.
16. Nick Toon
Nick Toon caught 21 passes in his NFL career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 4 years (2012-15)
Teams: New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams
Stats: 21 REC, 283 YDS, 1 TD, 13.5 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: The son of former Pro Bowl receiver Al Toon, Nick Toon was also an NFL receiver. A "Nick toon" is also something you’d see on Nickelodeon programming roughly 20 hours a day.
Nick never reached the heights of his father, who once led the NFL in receptions, but both Toons attended Wisconsin.
And the younger Toon edged out his old man in both receptions and receiving yards in college.
15. Ashton Youboty
Ashton Youboty, left, had two career interceptions.Position: Defensive back
Career: 6 years (2006-11)
Teams: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars
Stats: 86 TKL, 2 INT, 2 SK, 1 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: The third NFL player to hail from Liberia, Ashton Youboty likely thought there was nothing unusual about his surname while growing up in his native country.
However, those thoughts vanished once he relocated to the United States and heard every "ya booty" joke imaginable.
Youboty spent six years in the NFL as a cornerback and is now part of Wisconsin’s football staff.
14. Bronko Nagurski
Bronko Nagurski won three NFL championships with the Chicago Bears.Position: Fullback, linebacker, tackle
Career: 9 years (1930-37, 1943)
Teams: Chicago Bears
Stats: 2,778 YDS, 25 TD, 4.4 AVG
Championships: 3 (1932-33, 1943)
Bottom line: Nothing says football like the name Bronko Nagurski. Without him, the only Bronko that NFL fans would be aware of is the white Bronco that O.J. Simpson used.
Nagurski was a bruising running back, who was the size (6-foot-2, 226 pounds) of many linemen of that era.
He also was one of the first stars of the NFL and later parlayed that stardom into a successful pro wrestling career.
13. Peerless Price
Peerless Price scored 31 touchdowns in his NFL career.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 9 years (1999-2007)
Teams: Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills
Stats: 403 REC, 5,281 YDS, 31 TD, 13.1 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Someone who is peerless is unrivaled and has no equal.
That’s exactly the type of player you want on your football team and the alliteration with his last name being Price is just icing on the cake.
The wide receiver wasn’t exactly peerless on the football field, but he had a solid career, primarily with the Bills, and ranks in the top 10 in team history in receiving yards.
12. Takeo Spikes
Takeo Spikes played on five NFL teams in his 15-year career.Position: Linebacker
Career: 15 years (1998-2012)
Teams: Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, San Diego Chargers
Stats: 1,431 TKL, 29 SK, 19 INT, 4 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Pronounced TKO, Takeo didn’t shy away from knocking out opponents over his 15-year career.
Only four players had more tackles than Spikes during those years, but his teams always came up short on the scoreboard.
Spikes' 219 career games are the most in NFL history for a player without a postseason appearance.
11. Barkevious Mingo
Barkevious Mingo was a first-round pick (No. 6 overall) in 2013.Position: Outside linebacker
Career: 7 years (2013-present)
Teams: Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans
Stats: 215 TKL, 10 SK, 1 INT, 5 FF
Championships: 1 (2016)
Bottom line: Barkevious has a great first name and an equally great nickname of "KeKe."
His mother’s name is Barbara, and she had an affinity for the name of Kevious. Thus, she combined the first three letters of her name along with Kevious to form Barkevious.
Mingo has four brothers and three of them have normal names. The other is named Hughtavious, and that must have been dad’s idea since Papa Mingo’s first name is Hugh.
10. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
BenJarvus Green-Ellis played in 84 NFL games.Position: Running back
Career: 6 years (2008-13)
Teams: New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals
Stats: 3,914 YDS, 42 TD, 3.9 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Green-Ellis was nicknamed "Law Firm" due to his collection of names sounding like one, and he actually planned on going to law school in college.
But football got in the way, and "Benny," as he was called by Bill Belichick, became a favorite of the Patriots' head coach.
Any coach would be a fan of a running back who protected the ball like Green-Ellis. His 589 straight touches without fumbling is an NFL record to start a career.
9. LeGarrette Blount
LeGarrette Blount rushed for 6,306 yards in his career.Position: Running back
Career: 9 years (2010-18)
Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions
Stats: 1,495 ATT, 6,306 YDS, 56 TD, 4.2 AVG
Championships: 3 (2014, 2016, 2017)
Bottom line: While LeGarrette is a unique name itself, the surname of Blount is the real MVP.
Blount was a big, bruising running back that could break tackles left and right and his name was infamously used by Deion Sanders during a highlight. While Sanders was narrating a video package of Blount breaking several tackles against the Packers, Prime Time said, "Five different Packers tried to hit that Blount."
Classic.
8. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix rides a bike to Packers training camp in 2014.Position: Safety
Career: 6 years (2014-present)
Teams: Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys
Stats: 522 TKL, 16 INT, 5.5 SACK, 1 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Born Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix, the safety got the nickname "Ha Ha" when people kept mispronouncing Clinton-Dix’s real name. It’s supposed to be pronounced Ha-SEEN but people kept saying Ha-SHAWN so Ha Ha just became easier.
His name may be hilarious, but Ha Ha is no joke on the field. He’s a versatile safety who was tasked with filling Charles Woodson’s role in the Packers' defense.
He’s bounced around to a couple of other teams since leaving Green Bay, but Clinton-Dix is one of three NFL players with at least 15 interceptions and 5 sacks since the 2014 season.
7. Fair Hooker
Fair Hooker played six years in the NFL.Career: 6 years (1969-74)
Teams: Cleveland Browns
Stats: 129 REC, 1,845 YDS, 8 TD, 14.3 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: There have been three Hookers in the NFL, but only one of them has been a Fair Hooker. Fair is his real first name, and he’s a junior, so there was a Fair Hooker who preceded him.
As a player, Hooker wasn’t bad. But he wasn’t great either, which would make him fair.
He lasted six seasons as an NFL wide receiver and never topped 45 receptions or more than two touchdowns in a season.
6. Happy Feller
Happy Feller was a fourth-round draft pick (No. 83 overall) out of Texas in the 1971 NFL draft.Career: 3 years (1971-73)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints
Stats: 16 FGM, 37.2 FG%, 27 XPM, 96.4 XP%
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Born James Feller, "Happy" acquired his nickname because he smiled often as a kid.
Good thing he became a kicker because "Happy" may not have been received as well if he were a lineman. Feller may have started looking for a new nickname after his NFL career since he made just 37.2 percent of his 43 field-goal attempts.
That's the worst percentage since the 1970 merger. Which wouldn't make anyone happy except opposing teams.
5. Equanimeous St. Brown
Equanimeous St. Brown is the first "Equanimeous" in NFL history.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 2 years (2018-present)
Teams: Green Bay Packers
Stats: 21 REC, 328 YDS, 0 TD, 15.6 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: How Equanimeous St. Brown got his name is quite interesting.
His dad was a bodybuilder and two-time Mr. Universe who was named John Brown. No, not John St. Brown, but John Brown, which is about as dull a name as possible.
Not wanting his sons to have similarly dull-sounding names, he named his kids Equanimeous, Osiris and Amon-Ra. He then added the St. to their names to give the names a little more flavor.
4. D'Brickashaw Ferguson
D'Brickashaw Ferguson was a Jets fan favorite.Position: Offensive tackle
Career: 10 years (2006-15)
Teams: New York Jets
Stats: 160 GS, three-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: If you had to create a Mount Rushmore of NFL names, D'Brickashaw Ferguson would make most lists. The origin is a character from the novel "The Thorn Birds," whose name was Father Ralph de Bricassart.
Name aside, Ferguson was as solid as they come in terms of offensive linemen. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2006 draft never missed a single start in his career and played in 10,707 out of 10,708 regular-season offensive snaps.
3. Earthwind Moreland
Earthwind Moreland played 12 games in the NFL.Position: Defensive back
Career: 3 years (2000-01, 2004)
Teams: New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots
Stats: 12 G, 2 GS, 17 TKL
Championships: 1 (2004)
Bottom line: You don’t have to be a music historian to figure out where Mr. Moreland got his name. His mom’s favorite band was Earth, Wind and Fire.
She left out the "fire" part, and Moreland’s middle name begins with a "C." Not surprisingly, he’s the only Earthwind in NFL history.
Moreland played in just 12 games in his career, but he was on the 2004 Patriots, which means he collected a Super Bowl ring for his service.
2. Lil'Jordan Humphrey
Lil'Jordan Humphrey went undrafted out of Texas in 2019.Position: Wide receiver
Career: 1 year (2019-present)
Teams: New Orleans Saints
Stats: 5 G, 1 GS
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Lil'Jordan sounds more like a rap name than a wide receiver, but it actually is a homage to the greatest basketball player of all time.
Humphrey’s mother let Lil'Jordan’s older brother pick out his name, and he went with "Michael" in honor of his favorite athlete, Michael Jordan. Mom then stepped in and said he’s a little Jordan, which then became Lil’Jordan.
By the way, as a 6-foot-4, 225-pound wide receiver, Lil'Jordan is anything but little.
1. Richie Incognito
Richie Incognito has had a controversial career.Position: Offensive guard
Career: 12 years (2006-present)
Teams: St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 162 GS, four-time Pro Bowler
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Another name for Richie is also a slang word that means jerk, and Incognito translates to "in disguise." Put that all together, and Richie Incognito has the perfect name to describe himself based on all of the controversies he’s been involved in.
He was part of the most famous bullying scandal in NFL history, has been voted the dirtiest player in the NFL, was kicked off two college teams and was arrested for threatening to shoot people at a funeral home.
That's one way to make a name for yourself.