Today's 11th edition is "what's in a name" focusing on nicknames. Can you guess what the nicknames of the current Packers? Well, I won't make you look to the bottom of the page, so here they are.
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| The Original 'Curly' Lambeau |
Busari Raji Jr.: His true nickname is B.J., but since he is using that as his real name he has now proclaimed himself "The Freezer" in reference to William "The Refrigerator" Perry.
Letroy Guion: "Gucci" because of his resemblance to rapper Gucci Mane.
Mike Pennel: "Baby Hayneworth" for looking like Albert Hayneworth before Hayneworth got lazy.
William Clay Matthews III: "Claymaker" for making plays early in his Packers career.
Jayrone Elliott: "Sackmaster" for the three sack game against the Rams he had in the preseason last season.
Demetri Goodson: "Meech". Goodson’s mother remembers Demetri as a baby who arrived two months early, weighing 4 pounds. "He’s always been a fighter," she said. He became "Meech," soon after, named after his godfather.
Ha’Sean Treshon Clinton-Dix: He was called "Ha Ha" by his grandmother when he was 3 or 4 years old.
Offense
James Starks: "Buck". When he was a child, he would entertain his grandfather and his friends with a James Brown dance when they returned from work. They described him as a young buck and also paid him a buck each time he did the dance.
John Crockett: "Taz" after the Tasmanian Devil due to his non-stop movement.
James Jones: "Dingo" given to him by his college teammates in reference to the muscular professional wrestler The Dingo Warrior, when during his first college weight room workout he bench-pressed 225 pounds an impressive 16 times
*Jeff Janis: I didn't find one, but I'm been calling him "Rodney" (Dangerfield) because he gets no respect.
Special Teams
Tim Masthay: Aaron Rodgers gave him the name "Ginger" to make fun of his red hair and sideburns, but then when he let his facial hair go wild, he was promoted to "The Ginger Wolverine".
Honorable Mention
Undrafted free agent linebacker from West Virginia Josh Francis was cut during training camp this season, but he had maybe the most sublime nickname of all the current Packers, "Road Closed", for his ability to close the road to all who tried to gain yardage on him.
Gone, But Not Forgotten
As "Wolfman Jack" or "Johnny Fever" would say, "Here's a blast from the recent past" of the best nicknames from the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's.
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| The Minister of Defense |
Ahman "Batman" Green (2000-06; 2009): He has a Batman tattoo on his leg.
Muhammed-Kabeer Olanrewaju "KGB" Gbaja-Biamila (2000-08): His name initials, but still pretty cool unless you're from Russia. - (more on him later)
Reggie "The Minister of Defense" White (1993-98): He was an ordained minister.
Gilbert "The Gravedigger" Brown (1993-03): From his sack dance.
Brett "Country" Favre (1992-07): From Southern Mississippi.
Chuck "Scud" Cecil (1988-92): Because he hit like the famous Scud missile.
Don "Majik Man" Majkowski (1987-92): For his late game heroics, especially against the Bears.
Tim "Six-Shooter" Harris (1986-90): From his sack dance.
Mike "Mad Dog" Douglass (1978-85): His teammates first called him "Bull Dog" and then "Pit Bull", and finally "Mad Dog" because, as a 210 pound undersized linebacker, he played like he was protecting his territory.
Ted "The Mad Stork" / "Kick 'em in the Head Ted" Hendricks (1974): At the University of Miami the tall, thin Hendricks gained the nickname "The Mad Stork." With the Colts he was simply called "The Stork". With the Raiders he was known as "Kick 'em in the Head Ted" because he used to jump over blockers in games, and one day in practice he knocked out fullback Marv Hubbard with an attempted blocker hurdle.
Clarence "Sweeny" / "Big Cat" Williams (1970-77): His Packers teammates called him "Sweeny" because he was from Sweeny, Texas. Dave "Hawg" Hanner gave him the name "Big Cat" in 1972 after sacking Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton three times telling him he played as if he was a big cat.
Still Revered
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| 'Hawg' Hanner |
The return of Super Bowl I and II players to their field of Glory followed by Bart Starr in the house for the Brett Favre Ring of Honor ceremony was as good as it gets. The nicknames of the Team of the 1960's are:
Bart "Bart the Cool" Starr: Obvious.
Zeke "Uncle Zekie" Bratkowski: I always called him "The Zekester".
Paul "The Golden Boy" Hornung: Max McGee called him "Goldilocks".
Ron "The Big Oaf" Kramer: He was officially listed at 234 pounds, but he played at closer to 250. Norm Van Brocklin, then the coach of the Vikings, called him "the big oaf".
Forrest "Iron Man" Gregg: For playing in a then-league record 188 consecutive games from 1956 until 1971.
Jerry "Zipper" Kramer: For his 22 surgeries in 11 seasons.
Frederick "Fuzzy" Thurston: His sister nicknamed him "Fuzzy" when he was a baby because of his dark, curly locks.
Travis "Roadrunner" Williams: He was a world-class sprinter at Arizona State earning the nickname "Roadrunner". One race he somehow ended up on the wrong side of the track, so he also had the nickname of "Streetwalker".
Dave "Hawg" Hanner: Earned his nickname, "Hawg," playing for the Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas.
Ron "The Culligan Man" Kostelnik: His teammates called him that because he was always around the water bucket.
Lee Roy "Fat Cow" Caffey: While not his official nickname I think Lombardi referred to him that way.
Dave "Lefty" Robinson: Because he was a left-footed kicker.
Long Gone, But Still Not Forgotten
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| Johnny Blood |
The old-time Packers had the most sublime nicknames of them all with the original Packer Earl "Curly" Lambeau starting it all.
Quarterback Arnie Herber (1930-40) had three nicknames. Veteran players on the defending NFL champion Packer squad teased Herber when he was a rookie and nicknamed him "Dummy". Much to their surprise, Lambeau addressed the team concerning Herber's negative nickname, threatening to fine any player $50 who referred to the rookie in a derogatory manner. "Lay off the 'dummy,' " Lambeau was quoted as saying. "We're going to play football and this kid is going to win with us. I'll punch the nose of the first man who forgets that."
Herber's new nickname became "The Kid," and as he proved his abilities, he became "Flash."
The best of the Lambeau Era nicknames was Johnny "Blood" McNally (1929-36, 1945)-( he was also known as "The Vagabond Halfback"). He took the name Blood from the movie Blood and Sand when he was looking for a fake name to play semipro ball under so he would still eligible at Notre Dame after they had dismissed him.
Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg (1938-45) also had a great one. Buckets explained, "I got the name from my brother. They called him 'Buckets' at North Division High School. The coach, Edgar Leavenworth, said 'Get that bucket (his butt) down,' and the guys started calling him 'Buckets.' When I came along, I was 'Buckets Jr."
Bucket Trivia: Goaltender Glenn Hall (Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blues) was also nicknamed "Buckets", but he got that name because he threw up into a bucket before each game. He was more commonly known as "Mr. Goalie".
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| The Alabama Antelope |
RIDICULOUS
What's ridiculous about the guys below is that they have nicknames, but the person who hung it on them either didn't have any imagination or they are just very dull people.
Defense
Julius Peppers: "Pep".
Jermauria Sammon Rasco: "Sco".
Nate Palmer: "Nate P."
Damarious Randall: "Randall Time"
Quinten Rollins: "Q"
Morgan Burnett: "Uno" - (for the number he wore at Georgia Tech)
Seandre Antonio Richardson: "Sean"
Offense
Aaron Rodgers: "A-Rod" - (Pretty dull and already taken. I'm guessing he has a better one if we ask Miss Olivia)
Aaron Ripkowski: "Rip"
Jared Abbrederius: "Abby"
Andrew Quarless: "Drew"
Charles Mitchell Henry: "Mitch"
Thomas John Lang: "T.J."
Josh Walker: "Walk"
Joseph Carl Tretter Jr.: "J.C."
NEITHER SUBLIME NOR RIDICULOUS, BUT STILL INTERESTING
These guys on the 2015 Packers didn't have nicknames, but had something sort of interesting connected loosely to a name.
Mike Daniels: His wife's real first name is Heaven.
Clay Matthews: Another namey thing about William is his wife is named Casey (maybe she is Casey Hayworth's sister from another mother. Keep reading to see what I'm referring to).
Andy Mulumba: His given name is Andy Leon Mulumba Kabaluapa.
Casey Hayworth: He has a half-brother also named Casey Hayward. His family may not have much imagination, but it's not as bad as the boxer George Foreman, who named all five of his sons George so he wouldn't forget their names. The younger four have nicknames (George Jr., George III ("Monk"), George IV ("Big Wheel"), George V ("Red"), and George VI ("Little Joey"). Slightly related, my Uncle George had trouble remembering his nephews and nieces' names, so he would go through the list starting with his dog. I was called "Rebel" a lot.
Samuel Kofi Barrington: His middle name means "Friday born".
John Kuhn: He has a 5-year-old English Bulldog named Buckwheat.
Randall Cobb: He was named "Mr. Football" for Class AA in Tennessee as a senior at Alcoa (Tenn.) High.
And finally:
Muhammed-Kabeer Olanrewaju "KGB" Gbaja-Biamila: His middle name "Olanrewaju" means "My Wealth is the future" in the Yoruba language. His last name, Gbaja-Biamila means "big man come save me." This name comes from his paternal great-great-grandfather who stood seven feet tall and was the village moderator in the Nigerian village in which he lived
FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART NAMBILI
Something has been bugging me for a long time and today I'm going to take care of it once and for all. I said every 10th post would be From The Sublime..., but I missed the third one when No. 30 came around, so the count has been wrong since then. So by adding No. 12 with post 120 catches me up and all will be right with the world from here on out. OBTY: The language used for the numbers in this post is Zulu.
SUBLIME ALL OVER AGAIN
Staying with the nickname theme Lambeau Field is one of the few remaining professional athletic venues to be named after someone instead of being sold to the highest bidder.
In the NFL only Ralph Wilson Stadium (Bills) and Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals) named after their patriarchs and Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs) and Soldier Field (Bears) not being named after a business.
In the NHL there are two Joe Louis Arena (Redwings) and Madison Square Garden (Rangers). In the NBA there are two Madison Square Garden (Knicks) and The Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons).
In MLB there are 10 Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park (Red Sox), Kauffman Stadium (Royals), Marlins Park, Nationals Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Turner Field (Braves), Wrigley Field (Cubs), and Yankee Stadium.
RIDICULOUS
I think some of the most ridiculous venue names today are O.co (Overstocked.com) Stadium (MLB A's and NFL Raiders), Quicken Loans Arena (NBA Cleveland Cavaliers), Sleep Train Arena (NBA Sacramento Kings), Smoothie King Arena (NBA New Orleans Pelicans). and Talking Stick Resort Arena (NBA Phoenix Suns).
THE REST OF THE STORY
Cooler heads prevailed in 2000 when the Packers were getting ready to renovate and expand LAMMMMMBEAU FIELD IN GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN. To make a long sad story short the Brown County ingrates voted 53% to 47% to approve a 5% sales tax to pay their share. Green Bay Mayor Paul Jaudin (must have been a Republican) wanted to sell the naming rights to take the burden off the taxpayers and two months later another referendum was floated and its was approved again 53% to 47% (must be a hotbed of Republicanism). The floor was set that at least $100 million must be raised by the sale of the name and I'm guessing the Lambeau family and the Lombardi family for that mater) didn't have that kind of scratch
Former Packers CEO Bob Harlan was against the idea saying, "We have fought to save Lambeau, and we will fight to save the tradition of Lambeau Field." Remember Lambeau was renovated instead of being repealed and replaced.
The traditionalists won and the compromise was selling the names of the eight gates. The cost at the time was $2 million a year per gate.( Miller Brewing, Oneida Nation, Verizon Wireless, Associated Bank, Fleet Farms, American Family Insurance, Bellin Health, and Shopko).
Can you imagine driving down Verizon Avenue and seeing Shopko Field? It makes me shutter.
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| Cooler Heads Prevailed |
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