What's in a nickname? Ask these high school football players

Several factors can lead to a nickname such as the Hulk to Show Thief

November 8, 2012|By Anthony Chiang, Correspondent

Most of the top high school football players in Broward and Palm Beach counties are on a mission to make a name for themselves.

But in some instances, the athletes don't have to work for it. Sometimes, their names are given to them.

Nicknames are prevalent among the area's best players, as their families, teammates and coaches refer to them by a name other than the one given to them at birth.

"It makes people think about what the player looks like and how they play," Hollywood Hills linebacker Griffin Goins said. "It's just a resemblance of what type of characters they are."

Some players get their nicknames from their performance on the field or in the weight room, and the names will stick with them after the regular season ends this week.

One example of that trend is Suncoast's Ke'Tyrus Marks, who owns the nickname "Show Thief" because he steals the show when he's playing football, and another is Goins, who is called "The Hulk" because of his ability to impress in the gym.

"It started off in the weight room with me lifting a lot of heavy weight and stuff," said Goins, who can bench press 425 pounds and squat 550 pounds. "Then it continued on the football field with me just throwing people around and making them look small."

Other times, athletes earn their nicknames based on which NFL players they look like when they're on the field.

For Glades Central's Aaron Baker, he is called "Lil AP" because he runs the ball like Adrian Peterson. And at St. Thomas Aquinas, John O'Korn is referred to as "Tebow" because he is a dual-threat quarterback like Tim Tebow, and wide receiver Mark Barr Jr. has the nickname "Young Cruz" because he reminds onlookers of Victor Cruz.

Some nicknames have nothing to do with football.

That's the case for Ohio State commit and St. Thomas Aquinas defensive lineman Joey Bosa, who is called "Bane" because after he shaved his head, he looked like the villain from "The Dark Knight Rises." And the same goes for West Boca linebacker Nick Telford, who goes by "Conan" because he reminds his teammates of the main character in "Conan the Barbarian," who was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"They say I kind of look like Arnold," Telford said. "I don't know if I'm that big, but that's the way they see it. "None of my family calls me that, but people on the football team do. I like it."

But most nicknames are earned at an early age.

That is the way Palm Beach Central running back Ray Wilson got his, as he began being called "Lil Ray" when he was a kid. The same goes for South Plantation's Alex Collins, who picked up the nickname "Buddha" because he was a "really big baby."

"When everybody started learning my name, all they would hear about was this guy named 'Buddha,' who was supposed to be good at football," Collins said. "Everybody assumed since the name was 'Buddha,' that I was this huge fat guy. So everybody gets surprised when they see me."

Coaches usually play along and call players by their nicknames. But sometimes, the situation will dictate how a coach addresses a member of the team.

"Certain ones, we always call them by their nicknames," Dillard coach Lorenzo Davis said. "Others, you might just address them by their nickname a majority of the time, and then every once in a while, you go by their first name. Sometimes, when you're in the heat of the battle, you forget their first names when you've been going by their nicknames all along."

One thing is always true, though. Nicknames have become a part of the sport that players can look to for some laughs.

"There's a lot of fun in the game of football," Goins said. "If you're not having fun, you're not playing the game of football."

Sun Sentinel Articles