By: Bryan Crawford
Running Back, Toronto Argonauts
When you come into the world you are given a name. The same is true of when you become a member of a team. More often than not, when you join a new team you’re given a new name. In 1982, my parents decided on the name Bryan, however 22 years later I received a new name. Amongst my teammates, I am now more commonly called by the nickname “Crawdaddy” than by my actual name. The name is so frequently used that my teammates tend to forget my actual name when its used and often have to stop for a second and think “Bryan…oh yeah you’re talking about Crawdaddy”. A first name is picked but a nickname is created. Among teammates, nicknames are a right of passage. They become part of who you are in your life as a football player. Your nickname is part of your identity and one of the ways in which you become connected with your teammates. To my teammates I’m Crawdaddy, to everyone else I’m Bryan.
Nicknames are essentially created three different ways. There are the ones that are derived from your number, the one based on your name, and then there are the ones that are completely unique.
The first type of nickname is the one that derivates from a player’s number. On the Argonauts we have several guys with nicknames based on their number. The simplest and most straight forward is Deuce; the nickname of Michael Fletcher. However, a few are a little more creative. These include: Arland Bruce III, Kenny Wheaton and Jude St John’s nicknames. ‘Cinco’ is the nickname given to Arland by coach Steve Buratto who has a love for speaking Spanish. ‘Dirty 30’ is the nickname given to Kenny, by Jonathan Brown, for his devastating hits on the football field. While ‘Quick 66’ is the nickname given to Jude by himself, which is usually a cardinal sin. But in Jude’s case, he came up with his as a play off of Keith Stokes’ nickname ‘Quick 6’; a nickname based not only on Stokes’ number but his ability to score quick touchdowns.
The second type of nickname is the one that is a derivative of your own name. It’s usually a shortened or otherwise altered version of one’s true name into something different. These names may be the most common form of nickname amongst a football team and always have to do with a guy’s last name. A few guys with these types of names include: Vandy (Mike Vanderjagt), Osh (Mike O’Shea), Tally (Andre Talbot), Scorch (Randy Srochenski), Wags (Aaron Wagner), and Hoff (Nathan Hoffart). Another means by which a nickname is derived from one’s name is the ever common joining of initials. For some reason whenever a guys has a J in their name it’s almost instantly turned into their nickname, such as with: J.B. (Jonathan Brown), J.D. (Jerome Davis), J-Rob (James Robinson) and K.J. (Kerry Joseph). In addition to J being popular for nicknames, if you have the same letter for your first and last initial you simply become known by those initials. Jeff Johnson and Dominique Dorsey are both examples of these on our team, known simply as J.J. and Double D respectively.
The final type of nickname is the unique one. These nicknames are usually created as a result of a situation that occurred or by someone simply coming up with it for some reason or another. More often these types of names are associated with some kind if interesting background story. My nickname Crawdaddy, is an example of this. For what ever reason, every time Michael Clemons thought of my last name, Crawford, he thought of crawfish or crawdaddies; the southern delicacy enjoyed by many of my American teammates. These nicknames may be the least common but are certainly the ones that seem to standout the most. A few others are the ‘Kissing Bandit’, which is Adriano Belli’s nickname. His desire to lay an Italian-style kiss on both cheeks of anyone he can get his hands on landed him the name. Finally, there is Byron Parker who is affectionately know as ‘Hops’, due to his jumping ability that led to him to winning the 2004 NCAA slam dunk challenge.
Although nicknames tend to be connected only with one particular team, sometimes a nickname can end up sticking with a guy for their entire career. The name or number based nickname sticks much easier than a unique one, but in a few cases a great unique nickname can stick for a whole career. Chris Hardy, who got the nickname ‘Hard Rock’ back in his days with Edmonton is an example of a guy whose name stuck with him even after he changed teams. This occasionally happens, but even rarer is when a nickname becomes even more popular than the guy’s actual name and permeates beyond the team. The greatest example of this is none other than ‘Pinball’; the nickname given to Michael Clemons when he first joined the Argonauts in 1989. As anyone who follows the CFL knows the nickname Pinball has become a brand all its own. A result I’m sure coach Bob O’Billovich, who has his own nickname ‘Obie’, never imagined happening when he first saw Michael bounce off defenders just like a pinball inside a pinball machine.
What’s in a name? Sometimes there isn’t much involved in the creation of a nickname. But other times a nickname is uniquely created. Either way, nicknames are an important part of the fabric of a football team.
As seen bi-weekly in the Kingston Whig Standard