List of North American football nicknames

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This is a list of nicknames in the sports of American football and Canadian football.

Contents 1 Players 2 Teams 2.1 American football 2.2 Canadian football 3 Stadiums 4 Miscellaneous nicknames 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Players

• "A-Train" — Anthony Thomas
• "Air McNair" - Steve McNair
• "Automatic" — Otto Graham
• "Bad Moon" - Andre Rison
• "Big Cat" - James Williams
• "Broadway Joe" — Joe Namath, quarterback; in reference to his flashy style and personality, such as wearing full-length fur coats while on the sidelines
• "Ceddy Bear" — Cedric Benson
• "Crazy Legs" — Elroy Hirsch
• "Danimal" - Dan Hampton
• "Darth Raider" - Lyle Alzado
• "The Edge" — Edgerrin James
• "First Down" - Jim Brown
• "Flipper" - Willie Anderson
• "Grave Digger" - Gilbert Brown
• "Hollywood" - Thomas Henderson
• "Housemendez" — T.J. Houshmandzadeh
• "Ironhead" - Craig Heyward
• "Jake The Snake" — Jake Plummer, for his effective scrambling ability.
• "The Juice" — O.J. Simpson, running back; "O.J." is a common nickname for orange juice
• "LT" — First used in the 1980s for Lawrence Taylor, today used for LaDainian Tomlinson
• "MATT JONES!" — Matt Jones, -shouted with a Houston accent, the same way as rapper Mike Jones.
• "McNeezy" — Donovan McNabb
• "Nasty Nate" — Nate Burleson
• "Neon Deion" — Deion Sanders, cornerback; Deion was well-renowned for making exciting plays, and displaying a vibrant personality
• "P Rivers" — Philip Rivers
• "Refrigerator" or "The Fridge" — William Perry, lineman; due to his considerable stature (height 6 ft 2 in/188 cm, weight approximately 370 lb/168 kg), calling to mind a "walking refrigerator"
• "Rowdy Roddy" — Roddy White
• "Shock Man" — Jeremy Shockey
• "T-Gon" — Tony Gonzalez
• "Too Tall" — Ed Jones, defensive end; reference to his considerable height (6'9"/206 cm)
• "Vinsanity" or "VY" — Vince Young
• " The Snake" - Ken Stabler,quarterback; a name used for the Oakland Raiders' scrambling left-handed QB from the 70's.
• "Catfish" - Roger Craig, running back; one of most prolific San Francisco 49ers' running backs from the 80's and early 90's, the name his teammates called him because he would "swim" through the defenses, and because of the way he would run with his eyes wide open and his high knee running style.
• "Joe Cool" - Joe Montana, quarterback; who played for the San Francisco 49ers leading them to four Super Bowl victories throughout the 1980's, named after his cool and calm playing style even while under pressure. While in Notre Dame he was also known as The Comeback Kid.
• "Cadillac" - Carnell Williams

[edit] Teams

This is a list of nicknames of professional and college football teams. Many are merely abbreviations or diminuatives of the team's name; otherwise, the origin of the nickname (if known) is noted. An asterisk (*) after a nickname indicates that the name is pejorative, insulting, or has at least a negative intent, and is often used by opponents or detractors (including fans when the team is performing poorly). Note on abbreviations: CFL - Canadian Football League; NFL - National Football League; NCAA - National College Athletic Association

[edit] American football

By nickname

• "Ain'ts"* – New Orleans Saints, NFL; rhyming play on the non-standard English negative ain't [1]
• "America's Team" – Dallas Cowboys; coined by Bob Ryan, the Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films in 1979 as a title for the team's 1978 highlight film; based on the widespread fan base of the team outside its home environs.
• "B.I.L.L.S."* - Buffalo Bills, by detractors, acronyms for "Boy I Love Losing Super Bowls", in reference to the team's failure to win the Super Bowl in four straight tries during the early 1990s^[1]
• "Big Blue (Wrecking Crew)" – New York Giants, NFL; from the color of their jerseys, influenced by the nickname of IBM [2]
• "BIG D / Doomsday" - Dallas Cowboys
• "The Black and Gold" – Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL; from their uniform colours [3]
• "Bolts" – San Diego Chargers, NFL; from the lightning bolt design on their helmets [4]
• "Brownies" – Cleveland Browns
• "Bucs" – Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL; abbreviation of team name
• "Build-a-Bears"* – Chicago Bears, NFL; named after a type of toy that allows children to create and stuff their own teddy bears; used by detractors
• "The Bungles"* – Cincinnati Bengals, NFL; applied when the team plays poorly [5]
• "Cardiac Cats" – given to the following teams due to close wins or losses in the final seconds of the game. "Cardiac" is a play on cardiac arrest, and all of the following teams are named after species of cats:
  • Carolina Panthers, NFL
  • Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL
  • Arizona Wildcats, NCAA
  • Montana State Bobcats, NCAA
  • Northwestern Wildcats, NCAA
  • Southern University Jaguars, NCAA
• "The Cardiac Kids" - Cleveland Browns
• "The Cheaters" - By people who hate the San Diego Chargers
• "The Chefs" – Kansas City Chiefs, NFL; origin Snickers candy bar commercial; however, the NFL has licensed official "Kansas City Chief Head Chef Cookie Jars"[6]
• "The Chesapeake Watershed Region Indigenous Persons" – Washington Redskins, NFL; translation of team name into exaggerated politically correct terms [7]
• "The Chickens"* - name used for the Philadelphia Eagles meaning that an eagle is a strong large predatory bird whereas a chicken is stupid, weak and is easily preyed on
• "Chokeland (Faders/Traitors)"* – Oakland Raiders, NFL; rhyming play; used by detractors when the team performs poorly [8]
• "Cowgirls"* – Dallas Cowboys, NFL; when playing poorly [9]
• "Cryboys"* – Dallas Cowboys; by detractors [10]
• "Da Bears" – Chicago Bears, NFL; team name pronounced with a Southside Chicago accent [11]
• "Funky Bears" – Chicago Bears, NFL; team nickname given to them by the funky musicians in the area
• "Da Raidahs" – Oakland Raiders, NFL; The way Chris Berman of ESPN says, "The Raiders" [12]
• "Da Bronx" – Denver Broncos, NFL; Used by fans outside of Denver.
• "Dawgs" – Cleveland Browns, NFL; according to Hanford Dixon, then a cornerback with the Browns, he gave his defensive teammates this nickname to inspire them before the 1985 season [13]
• "DeadSkins"* – Washington Redskins, NFL; rhyming play on team name; used by detractors.[14]
• "The Dirty Birds" – Atlanta Falcons, NFL; team dubbed themselves by this name during their race to Super Bowl XXXIII [15]
• "Dirty Donks" - Denver Broncos, NFL; used by fans of rival teams to refer to their borderline cut-blocking schemes, which have resulted in a few opposing lineman injured, such as the Bengals Tony Williams, for instance.
• "Faiders"* - Oakland Raiders; by detractors.
• "The Dolts"* – Indianapolis Colts, NFL; rhyming play on name with a term for "idiot"; by detractors [16]

• "The Flaming Thumbtacks" – Tennessee Titans, NFL; a humorous interpretation of their team logo, actually a flaming stylized letter "T" [17]
• "The Fins" – Miami Dolphins, NFL; play on abbreviation of name with the appendages of a dolphin [18]
• "The Fish" – Miami Dolphins, NFL; while the mascot and team logo of bottlenose dolphins are certainly not fish, but mammals, some of the sources for the heraldic dolphins are[19] and [20]. [21] The rhyme when they played in the Orange Bowl was squish the fish in the Orange Dish.
• "G-Men" – New York Giants, NFL; initial of team name, possibly a play on the term for a government (e.g. FBI) agent [22]
• "Goats"* – Saint Louis Rams, NFL; when playing poorly [23]
• "Jags" – Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL; abbreviation of team name
• "Jest"* – New York Jets, NFL; humorous misspelling of team name; used when team is performing poorly [24]
• "Gang Green"* New York Jets, NFL; used to describe their team colors.
• "Jills"* - Buffalo Bills, by detractors
• "Jints" (or Gints — rhymes with "pints") – New York Giants, NFL; pronunciation of the team name with a New York accent in a linguistic construction known as syllable reduction
• "Jokeland (Faders/Traitors)"* - Oakland Raiders, by detractors

[25]

• "Lambs"* – Saint Louis Rams, NFL; a lamb being a soft, cuddly, meek baby sheep (as opposed to a ram, being an aggressive full-grown male sheep); rhyming nickname used by detractors when team performs poorly [26]
• "Monsters of the Midway" – Chicago Bears, NFL; originally applied to the University of Chicago "Maroons", a strong (former) college football team; "Midway" refers to the Midway Plaisance, a long, green swath of boulevard space bordering the southern end of the campus. The University discontinued its football program in 1939, and the Bears adopted the nickname
• "'Niners" – San Francisco 49ers, NFL; abbreviation of team name
• "The Oilers" – Tennessee Titans, NFL; a reference of the team's name before it moved to Tennessee, the Houston Oilers.
• "The Pack" – Green Bay Packers, NFL; abbreviation of name, and a play on the collective term for a group of animals such as dogs or wolves [27]
• "Pats" – New England Patriots, NFL; abbreviation of team name
• "The Patsies"* – New England Patriots, NFL; play on nickname "Pats" (above) and the term patsy, "a person who is easily manipulated or victimized" [28]
• "Patty Cakes" – New England Patriots, NFL; play on the name of a game played by infants and toddlers
• "The Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons" – Washington Redskins, NFL; translation of team name into exaggerated politically correct terms [29]
• "Purple People Eaters" – Minnesota Vikings, NFL; from their jersey color, and a play on the novelty song Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
• "Rammers" – Saint Louis Rams, NFL; extension of team name
• "The San Antonio Saints" – New Orleans Saints, NFL; because a rumored move to San Antonio, Texas due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina [30]
• "The Silver and Black" – Oakland Raiders, NFL; from the colors of the uniforms [31]
• "Sinners"* – New Orleans Saints, NFL; "sinner" is often a paired opposite of "saint"; used by detractors [32]
• "'Skins" – Washington Redskins, NFL; abbreviation of team name
• "The Steel Curtain" – Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL; coined in their glory years of the 1970s, has been resurrected due to their recent success; play on the term Iron Curtain
• "Stillers" – Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL; play on pronunciation of team name in a Pittsburgh English accent
• "Traitors" - Oakland Raiders, NFL; due to the team's abandonment of Oakland for Los Angeles in 1982; their return to Oakland notwithstanding
• "Vikes – Minnesota Vikings, NFL; abbreviation of team name[33]
• "Vi-queens"* – Minnesota Vikings, NFL; a play on the royal ranks of king and queen, with a possible allusion to the term "queen" as a pejorative reference to homosexuality [34]
• "Whiners"* – San Francisco 49ers, NFL; play on nickname "'Niners" (above)
• "Gold Rush" - San Francisco 49ers, NFL; due to the fact that San Fransico's team was named after the California Gold Rush in 1849

By team

• Denver Broncos - Orange Crush, Donkeys (by detractors)
• Green Bay Packers - The Cheeseheads
• Houston Texans - Procrastinators (when playing poorly)
• Indianapolis Colts - The Blue Crew, The Herd, The Cunts (by detractors)
• Jacksonville Jaguars - The Jag Offs (by detractors)
• Miami Dolphins - The Aquatic Mammals
• New York Jets - J.E.T.S. (Just End The Season) used when playing poorly, Jersey/B
• New York Giants - G-Men, Jints, New York Football Giants (the actual legal name of the team, made popular as a nickname by Chris Berman), Jersey/A, New Jersey Giants (due to the large fanbase in Northern New Jersey), Madagascar's crew.
• Oakland Raiders - The Faders
• Philadelphia Eagles- Birds, Iggles (many Philadelphians pronounce the team's name this way), Pigeons (by haters),Seagulls (by Detractors), Beagles (by detractors and when playing poorly)
• St. Louis Rams - The Blue and Gold, Rammers, Male Sheep, The Greatest Show on Turf, Lambs, Goats (when playing poorly)
• San Diego Chargers - SuperChargers
• Seattle Seahawks - Hawks, Seachickens (by detractors).
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Yucs (made popular by Chris Berman when they were a regular cellar dweller), Suckaneers, The Bay of Pigs
• Tennessee Titans - The Thumbtacks, The Flaming Thumbtacks
• San Francisco 49ers - The Bay Bombers, The Red And Gold, Team Of The 80's

[edit] Canadian football

• "Argonots" – Toronto Argonauts, CFL; derogatory name used when team is performing poorly
• "Argos" – Toronto Argonauts, CFL; abbreviation of name
• "Banjo Pickers" – Saskatchewan Roughriders, CFL; derogatory term; from a comment by Winnipeg place kicker Troy Westwood before a playoff game in 2003 that Saskatchewan fans were a bunch of "banjo-pickin' inbreds" [35]. See also Banjo Bowl.
• "Big Blue" – Winnipeg Blue Bombers; reference to the team's name and colours, possibly influenced or suggested by the nickname of IBM
• "The Blue and Gold" – Winnipeg Blue Bombers, CFL; after the team colours
• "The Boatmen" – Toronto Argonauts, CFL; in reference to the team's foundation by the Argonaut Rowing Club of Toronto, which in turn was derived from Jason and the Argonauts, mythical heroes and boatmen who are the namesake of both the rowing club and the CFL team
• "Bombers" – Winnipeg Blue Bombers, CFL; abbreviation of team name
• "The Bummers" – Winnipeg Blue Bombers, CFL; derogatory play on "Bombers", either by rivals or by their own fans when the team performs poorly
• "The Double Blue" – Toronto Argonauts, CFL; in reference to the team colours, Oxford blue and Cambridge blue
• "Esks" or "Eskies" – Edmonton Eskimos, CFL; abbreviation of team name
• "'Gades" – Ottawa Renegades, CFL; abbreviation of team name
• "Leos" – British Columbia Lions, CFL; "Leo" is a common nickname foe "lion" (from Latin, leo)
• "Riders" – Saskatchewan Roughriders, CFL; abbreviation of team name
• "Shmoes" – Edmonton Eskimos; derogatory term, play on the last syllable of the team name and the Yiddish term schmo, "a stupid or obnoxious person"
• "Stamps" – Calgary Stampeders, CFL; abbreviation of team name
• "Stumps" – Calgary Stampeders, CFL; pejorative play on abbreviation of team name
• "The Tabbies" – Hamilton Tiger-Cats, CFL; in reference to the team logo and a humorous allusion to a tabby cat
• "Ti-cats" – Hamilton Tiger-Cats, CFL; telescoping of team name

[edit] Stadiums

• "The Jungle" — The name for Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium during the early 1990s.
• "The Stick" — Abbreviation for Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
• "The Giant Hefty Bag" — Can refer to the Metrodome, home of the Vikings (which has an inflatable roof), or the plastic used to cover some of the seats when configured for baseball.
• "The Woodshed" — LP Field in Nashville — refers to Louisiana-Pacific's wood-selling business
• "The Link"- Abbreviaton for Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
• "The Zit"- Abbreviation nickname for Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia

[edit] Miscellaneous nicknames

• "The Black Hole" — A certain section of the Oakland Raiders' stadium seating, named for its black-clad, especially ferocious seeming fans.
• The Dawg Pound — Originally the bleacher section in the east end zone of Cleveland Stadium, today the bleachers in the same end zone of Cleveland Browns Stadium. Both sections are home to the most rabid fans of the Cleveland Browns, known to throw dog biscuits and other debris at opposing players.
• The Blue Wall is the name of Giants Staidum along with the Swamp as it is in East Rutherford New Jersey.
• "Niner Empire" - A name for the most hardcore, diehard fans in the San Francisco 49ers home staduim.
• "Raider Haters" - The name used to describe the legions of fans that hate the Oakland Raiders.
• "Charger Country" - Name for legion of San Diego Chargers fans.

[edit] See also

• Nickname
• List of baseball nicknames
• List of basketball nicknames
• List of hockey nicknames
• List of athletes by nickname
• American football
• Canadian football

[edit] References