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Greatest NFL Names of All Time
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Keith Srakocic/AP PhotoThere have been more than 25,000 players in NFL history. That’s more than 25,000 name combinations. Some have been simple names while others have been some of the most unique names you’ve ever heard. For every Ed Reed or Tom Brady, there’s been a D’Brickashaw Ferguson or T.J. Houshmandzadeh. (Maybe the ratio isn’t exactly like that, but play along.)
We’ve gone through the NFL archives and picked out the best of the best of NFL names. Players made the cut for having names that are one of a kind like Plaxico Burress. Others got the call for having a connection to pop culture a la John Conner. And some players are on the all-name team because their names sound exactly like who they are as football players.
These are the greatest player names in NFL history.
50. Halapoulivaati Vaitai
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/53/d5/53d5caa4cecb4aab8c2e0dcac8425746.jpeg "Halapoulivaati Vaitai")
Matt Rourke/AP PhotoPosition: Offensive tackle
Career: 4 years (2016-present)
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions
Stats: 55 G, 20 GS
Championships: 1 (2017)
Bottom line: Both teammates and the media refer to Vaitai as "Big V," and you can clearly see why.
Six syllable first names don’t exactly roll off the tongue, and Big V admits that when signing autographs, after a while he’ll just write "H Vaitai" and save himself 13 letters.
But the best part of Vaitai’s name is that he has twin brothers simply named Kevin and William.
FEATURED49. Guy Whimper
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/0c/31/0c311671e5e44a2e812f6e6d259a697c.jpeg "Guy Whimper")
Don Wright/AP PhotoPosition: Offensive tackle
Career: 7 years (2006-13)
Teams: New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers
Stats: 78 G, 24 GS
Championships: 1 (2007)
Bottom line: There are players on this list like Mack Strong and Bronko Nagurski that just scream football player. Guy Whimper? Not so much.
It could have been worse if his name was Guy Whimpier, but he wasn’t a guy who whimpered out on the field.
Although the 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle was a backup lineman for most of his career, he did pick up a Super Bowl ring thanks to being on the 2007 New York Giants.
48. Prince Amukamara
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/3a/46/3a462cc945a9474fa4801516db867fd7.jpeg "Prince Amukamara")
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP PhotoPosition: Cornerback
Career: 9 years (2011-present)
Teams: New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders
Stats: 477 TKL, 10 INT, 6 FF, 1 TD
Championships: 1 (2011)
Bottom line: Sorry to disappoint, but Prince Amukamara wasn’t named after the famed singer Prince. Amukamara's grandfather is a king in Nigeria while his father is a chief.
Prince is next in line, and his five sisters have similar royal names that begin with "P": Princess, Promise, Peace, Precious and Passionate. Amukamara got lots of "Coming to America" jokes when he was drafted since he’s a prince that moved to New York City just like Eddie Murphy’s character.
But Amukamara developed into a solid NFL cornerback. He won a Super Bowl as a rookie with the Giants and was a starter for eight straight years with three teams. In 2020, he signed a one-year deal with the Raiders.
47. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/99/4f/994fc22da10f403db4007c5bca5bae9e.jpeg "Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala")
Keith Srakocic/AP PhotoPosition: Running back
Career: 7 years (1998-2004)
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars
Stats: 964 YDS, 8 TD, 4.2 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: In order to get the 14 letters, hyphen and apostrophe in Fuamatu-Ma’afala’s name on the back of a jersey, a smaller than normal font was required during design.
His nickname of "Fu" was much easier to pronounce although we have to also give credit to the late Stuart Scott for saying "that’s a bad Ma’afala" while narrating his highlights.
46. Pierre Garcon
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/3d/93/3d93137a3e2b49909e17592cebad3a29.jpeg "Pierre Garcon")
John Hefti/AP PhotoPosition: Wide receiver
Career: 11 years (2008-18)
Teams: Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers
Stats: 628 REC, 7,854 YDS, 38 TD, 12.5 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Pierre Garcon is of Haitian descent, and his name is just dripping with French influence. His name literally translates to "Rock Boy," but Garcon was more like a man of rock on the football field.
He was a wide receiver by trade who played like a running back after he got the ball in his hands.
Garcon’s biggest play was catching a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLIV, which was Peyton Manning’s only touchdown pass in the game, to his team.
45. Tiki Barber
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/a8/01/a801189955ca4d34bb70c59709ec5734.jpeg "Tiki Barber")
Bill Kostroun/AP PhotoPosition: Running back
Career: 10 years (1997-2006)
Teams: New York Giants
Stats: 2,217 ATT, 10,449 YDS, 55 TD, 4.7 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Tiki Barber’s real name is Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah Barber, which means "fiery-tempered king" because he started screaming shortly after birth. His twin brother Ronde’s real name is Jamael Oronde, which means "firstborn son" since he’s seven minutes older than Tiki.
The younger Barber was a star running back for the Giants, but he seemed to always have non-football interests that often rubbed teammates and fans the wrong way.
He retired after the 2006 season, and the Giants won the Super Bowl the next season with many saying Tiki’s retirement was "addition by subtraction."
44. Rocky Boiman
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/31/f4/31f4f2e329ef49bda6e5c922c0691cfa.jpeg "Rocky Boiman")
Ed Reinke/AP PhotoPosition: Linebacker
Career: 8 years (2002-09)
Teams: Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers
Stats: 267 TKL, 1.5 SACK, 5 INT, 1 TD
Championships: 1 (2006)
Bottom line: Most "Rockys" are actually "Roberts" or "Rogers," but Boiman’s actual first name is Rocky.
If that wasn’t enough, would you believe that he actually played in the city where the name Rocky means more than anywhere else? In 2008, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Rocky, which spurred lots of clever headlines in the city despite Boiman being a career backup.
But this Rocky’s stay in Philly wasn’t as good as his famous namesake, and Boiman was cut before the season began.
43. John Conner
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/12/95/129525f4d7c54e4b904ff3b646762262.jpeg "John Conner")
Jeff Haynes/AP PhotoPosition: Fullback
Career: 5 years (2010-14)
Teams: New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants
Stats: 27 ATT, 108 YDS, 2 TD, 4.0 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: When you share the same name as an infamous character from the Terminator series, you also inherit the nickname of "The Terminator."
That nickname wouldn’t work with players at every position – no one is calling a kicker "Terminator."
But it worked for Conner, who was a fullback whose main job was to annihilate whoever was in front of him.
42. Plaxico Burress
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/40/56/4056ededdf7c4cd6a09f6187f009203f.jpeg "Plaxico Burress")
Gene J. Puskar/AP PhotoPosition: Wide receiver
Career: 11 years (2000-08, 2011-12)
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, New York Jets
Stats: 553 REC, 8,499 YDS, 64 TD, 15.4 AVG
Championships: 1 (2007)
Bottom line: Plaxico Burress was named after his uncle, who was another Plaxico, although the former wide receiver is unsure of the name’s origin. But he is sure that many people have messed up his name over the years.
He’s been called everything from Texaco to Flexico. Shannon Sharpe even jabbed him once by referring to him as "Plexiglass" while the two were part of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.
Regardless, whenever you hear the name Plaxico Burress, two things come to mind, and they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. There’s the game-winning touchdown catch in the Giants' Super Bowl XLII upset of the 18-0 Patriots. And there’s also Burress accidentally shooting himself in a nightclub, which signaled the end of his Giants tenure and resulted in a two-year prison sentence.
41. Captain Munnerlyn
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Ross D. Franklin/AP PhotoPosition: Defensive back
Career: 10 years (2009-18)
Teams: Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings
Stats: 529 TKL, 12 INT, 10 SK, 6 TD
Championships: 0
Bottom line: Captain Munnerlyn was named after his great-great-grandfather, who also was a Captain.
At first, Munnerlyn wasn’t a fan of the name because he got teased in school, but he learned to embrace it by becoming a leader.
He’s hoping his sons embrace their names in the same manner. One is also named Captain, and the other is named Champ.
40. Mack Strong
:quality(80)/granite-web-prod/59/32/59329e6a52f04c1abeb6bc7d0958ba23.jpeg "Mack Strong")
John Froschauer/AP PhotoPosition: Fullback
Career: 14 years (1994-2007)
Teams: Seattle Seahawks
Stats: 909 YDS, 5 TD, 4.0 AVG
Championships: 0
Bottom line: If your name is Mack Strong, you either grow up to become a pro wrestler or an NFL fullback.
Strong chose the latter and is one of three fullbacks to play at least 200 NFL games.
He was a two-time Pro Bowler and blocked for 10 straight 1,000-yard running backs with the Seahawks.
39. Ndamukong Suh
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