What's the NFL without NFL names? Names like Nagurski, Nitschke, Brown, Slater, Youngblood, Csonka, and any last name that has Van before it, all sound like football names. Names you should be scared of if you are playing against them. Names that bounce around a locker room during the week and in pre-game warm ups.
I think today, there are more "football" names in the league than there was before. Expansion and larger rosters are a contributing factor to that. However, I don't think the quality of the names has been diminished though.
My selections are based on the best combination of first and last name and of course, my own opinion. Some of the last names are so good, that no matter how bad the first name, it makes up for it.
So what are some of the names on current NFL rosters that have that "NFL" sound to them?
These are my top picks:
Scott Mruczkowski
Dre' Bly
John Engelberger
Dantrell Savage
Matt Turk
Melvin Bullitt
Alge Crumpler
Terrell Suggs
Travis Kirschke
Troy Polamalu
Jerricho Cotchery
Matthew Slater
Vince Wilfork
R.W. McQuarters
James Thrash
DeMarcus Ware
Dan Klecko
Jon Runyan
Rex Grossman
Olin Kreutz
Brian Urlacher
Cato June
Jeremy Trueblood
Na'il Diggs
Tully Banta-Cain
Takeo Spikes
The names I listed I feel all deserve to be in the category of the best "football" names in today's NFL. Unfortunately, some of the names do not match the play of the owner of said name. Rex Grossman (a very football name, like him or not) probably doesn't invoke a lot of fear in opposing defenses these days.
Then there's names like Troy Polamalu. Seriously, if your family's last name is Polamalu and no one is playing football in your family, that is a travesty of travesties. Even grandma Polamalu should be playing football.
Of course there are the classic Klecko and Slater names. Two great football names in my opinion.
Then there are the new generation of 'football' names; Urlacher, Runyan, Diggs, Spikes, etc. These names, in the future, will possibly bring people back to the late 20th and early 21st centuries, much like the names of Nitchske and Nagurski bring us back to the '50s and '60s era of professional football.
No scientific data or evidence was used or harmed in the writing of this article.
2 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Gail Hall 8 months ago
Some good college football names:
Jerrod Johnson, QB Texas A&M: it's got all the alliteration of Tim Tebow, but Jerrod sounds way more forceful than Tim
Dez Bryant, WR Oklahoma State: Dez is just a great football name
Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech: You get to call his catches "Crab Grab"s
Javon Ringer, RB Michigan State: Ringer just sounds intimidating
Marlon Lucky, RB Nebraska: There are all sorts of puns you can make with a last name like Lucky
Duke Ihenacho, S San Jose State: Duke is a good football name, and Ihenacho is just fun to say
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Brian Smith 8 months ago
Those are going to be some very nice additions. Javon Ringer does have , dare I say, a nice ring to it. Yes, Jerrod is definitely more forceful than Tim. Tim is a baseball players name in my opinion.
And you can never go wrong with Duke. Duke is a good name for just about anything, dogs, cars, actors, you name it.
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