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Great nicknames in sports (1 Viewer)

AnonymousBob

AnonymousBob

Footballguy
What happened to this?  We used to have some real personality to these things. Iron horse, Oil can Boyd,  Prime Time, Charlie hustle...

There are a few here and there but these days it seems like everyone just slaps the first initial in front of a last name. 

What great nicknames do we have going in sports today? 

 
I like when mediocre/bad players have cool nicknames.  Big fan of Mo Buckets over here.

Oil Can Boyd was a fantastic nickname.  I was a big baseball fan as a kid, and have no idea what his real name is now.  I think Dennis, but not sure.  A real nickname has to become your name, and there aren't many of those.

Black Mamba is the worst nickname of all time.   Completely forced, and driven by sales and PR.  

 
Present day - Canelo.  Maybe not the most eye-catching but many know him simply as Canelo.  Some don't know his last name and most don't know his first name.  Runner up is the Honey Badger.

Too many all-timers to name a definitive #1 but one of my favorite was Iron Head Heyward.

 
This wasn't a real nickname, but I recall Artie Donovan prefacing a statement about Lenny Moore with something like "I don't care if you name him Rasputin The Death Bat From Hell,,,,,,,"

Baseball & boxing probably have the most down through the years, but my favorite is most likely "Skywalker" for David Thompson right after Star Wars came out.

 
Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh received the nickname "The Final Boss" as one of the best closers in Korean baseball history.  During his time in Japan he also picked up "The Stone Buddha".  

 
Not necessarily all great names, but current ones that have effectively become the players name as Zigg suggested above 

Beast Mode

Megatron

Big Papi

Kung Fu Panda

Run DMC

 
Encyclopedia Brown said:
Jared Lorenzen should have had a lengthier NFL career just because of the nickname "Pillsbury Throwboy"
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I must be thinking of some one.  I thought Jared was called "The hefty lefty"

 
Pittsburgh related players

Casey Hampton - Big Snack

AJ Burnett - Batman

Pedro Alvarez - El Toro

James Harrison - Silverback

Brett Keisel - Diesel

Sean Casey - The Mayor

 
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i can think of three all time greats right off the top of my head randall the touchdown robber cobber or rt2c as some call him travis the flying burrito kelce and giannis anteaternintendo take that to the bank bromigos 

 
Former pitcher Don Stanhouse had two nicknames. One was "Full Pack" because Earl Weaver was so nervous when he pitched that he used to chain smoke when Stanhouse was in the game.

His other nickname is by far.ky favorite ever. He was a strange character and someone called him "Stan The Man Unusual".  :lol:

####### awesome.  :thumbup:

 
Canelo and the Honey Badger are tough to beat. 

Boxing always has some different ones:

Dr Steelhammer, Dr IronFist, Chocolatito 

 
i was always a fan of percy spicy muchacho harvin and sixto stinkhammer of power doom lezcano i remember using that one back in the early 70s before anyone was even thinking about nicknames take that to the bank bromigos 

 
Best ones I have heard in the modern era are Megatron and Beast Mode.  Those just scream "awesomeness."  

I am rarely a fan of players who give themselves nicknames, like Bryant and Bettis.  Bettis' is hilariously bad because the premise was everybody get on the bus and I will take you somewhere, and he never did that. And Bryant basically aped his from the Kill Bill flicks. 

 
Dave "The Cobra" Parker my favorite player growing up.

Larry Legend, Air Jordan, Magic Johnson, The Chief, The Glove, The Reignman, Dr. J, The Nigerian Nightmare, Mean Joe Green, Beastmode.

Boxing has too many to list.

 
Don Zimmer told the story about being on a train and reading a magazine article about Mickey Mantle where he was called the All-American boy. Zimmer said Jackie Robinson was sitting next to him and leaned over and saw the article, and said to Zimmer, "you should be called the All American Out"

Not as catchy, as Popeye, but funnier. 

 
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SWC said:
i can think of three all time greats right off the top of my head randall the touchdown robber cobber or rt2c as some call him travis the flying burrito kelce and giannis anteaternintendo take that to the bank bromigos 
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Who is Randall Cobber?

 
Some fancy nicknames of active athletes-

Tom "The Travelling Salesman" Brady

Clayton "The Trombonist" Kershaw

Mark "The Dentist" Teixiera

Brian "The Curator of Baseball" McCann

 
Shawn "The Muscle Shark"  Sherk. 

Oh wait,  I thought this was for worst nicknames. Please,  carry on. 

 
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Sweetness.

Why Walter Payton was called Sweetness


Ever wonder why legendary running back Walter Payton had the nickname Sweetness? His brother gave the answer in his book Walter & Me, and there are a few reasons the tough player had the sweet nickname.

Payton cycled through a few nicknames before finding one that stuck. Payton was called Bubba as a child, and Jackson State fans called him Little Monk and Spider-Man. Eventually, they thought of Sugarman, and a twist on that nickname became permanent.

After Sugarman, Walter Payton became Sweetness. Payton’s brother speculates that the nickname was meant to pick on his soft, high-pitched voice, but it quickly became a badge of honor. The media was happy to promote Payton’s nickname because, as one reporter said, “he runs so sweet that it gives me cavities just watching him.”
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Ilov80s said:
Canelo and the Honey Badger are tough to beat.

Boxing always has some different ones:

Dr Steelhammer, Dr IronFist, Chocolatito
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Last year, there was a fight between Roman Gonzales and Brian Villora.  AKA, Chocolatito vs The Hawaiian Punch.

 
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Stifle Tower for Rudy Gobert is pretty solid, and Thor definitely works for Noah Synergaard.

Worst current and worst nickname ever:  "The Laser Show" for Dustin Pedroia.  Forget about the obnoxious Pats fans, I'm 100% on board with nuking New England for that sin alone.

 
Keith R said:
Present day - Canelo.  Maybe not the most eye-catching but many know him simply as Canelo.  Some don't know his last name and most don't know his first name.  Runner up is the Honey Badger.

Too many all-timers to name a definitive #1 but one of my favorite was Iron Head Heyward.
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Who?

All time best - tie between "Chocolate Thunder" and "Human Highlight Reel". I'm not even a basketball fan.

 
In basketball, I like ABC, or alphabet, for Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is as much a convenience as a nickname. Still laugh at "The Pasty Gangster" for Stockton

 
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