What ever happened to all the great nicknames? (1 Viewer)

[ConnSKINS26]

You don't like some nicknames because ten years from now, they won't describe the type of player a guy was...but you like T-Sizzle?

 

[Mentos]

I created a whole bunch of cool nicknames in another thread on this forum last fall.

 

[bonesman]

Aside from the Gallopng ghost, the oldest reference only dates to the 70's or so. No where near 100 years. But the point which should be obvious is there is absolutely zero imagination or descriptive creativity in these names these days. Anything beyond asking someone to use initials seems to be too much to ask.

Lawrence Taylor, beeyotch. Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it.

 

[Shutout]

You don't like some nicknames because ten years from now, they won't describe the type of player a guy was...but you like T-Sizzle?

Its easy to see the correlation. You know he was a rusher who caused havoc and was explosive. Not that hard to grasp. Not at all like when someone says tell me the grreatness of Robert Griffin III and you say "RG3" doesn't that describe it all?

 

[Shutout]

I created a whole bunch of cool nicknames in another thread on this forum last fall.

Link it?

 

[Shutout]

Aside from the Gallopng ghost, the oldest reference only dates to the 70's or so. No where near 100 years. But the point which should be obvious is there is absolutely zero imagination or descriptive creativity in these names these days. Anything beyond asking someone to use initials seems to be too much to ask.

Lawrence Taylor, beeyotch. Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it.

Yeah, everything is cool when it the ORIGINAL. But when in a copy and past world, do as the copy and paster do, I guess.

 

[bonesman]

The Minister of Defense

Mean Joe Greene

Prime Time

Pacman

The Diesel

The Nigerian Nightmare

Too Tall Jones

Ironhead Heyward

The Refrigerator

The Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)

Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player)

The Steel Curtain

The Hogs

The Purple People Eaters

Monsters of the Midway

The Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that “turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on”).

Pacman plays for the Bengals (and his nickname is stupid). Why is he on this list?

 

[BroadwayG]

touchdown robber

 

[Shutout]

All those "cool" nicknames mentioned are from like a 40 year span.

So now we are supposed to have the same number of cool nicknames from players that are playing right now today? Seems too forced. Nicknames just happen, you can't just sit around and think them up.

Besides, there are probably just as many or more good nicknames right NOW playing than any one given year in the past. So what's the problem?

I suppose if you can't distinguish the difference in quality, you can't understand it.

I pulled up names that literally came to me in about 3 minutes. THere were MANY MANY MORE. at the same time in the late 80's, there were more iconic names than everything the last decade could muster up.

Its just a difference in what you see and know, I get it. But, again, I find it foney that one generation will describe its arguable greatest QB as a name that is his initials basically and was "borrowed" from a baseball player while another generation will simply say "Jesus in Cleats" and everyone in the room will know exactly who we are talking about.

 

[bonesman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_nicknames

 

[Shutout]

The Minister of Defense

Mean Joe Greene

Prime Time

Pacman

The Diesel

The Nigerian Nightmare

Too Tall Jones

Ironhead Heyward

The Refrigerator

The Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)

Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player)

The Steel Curtain

The Hogs

The Purple People Eaters

Monsters of the Midway

The Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that “turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on”).

Pacman plays for the Bengals (and his nickname is stupid). Why is he on this list?

When he first entered the league, he was terrific and the name fit. He is one of those guys that you really have to dive into the wayback machine to go back and appreciate to get a better sense of.

If you only remember Pacman as a Bengal, yeah, you're not going to be too thrilled on that one.

 

[bonesman]

The Minister of Defense

Mean Joe Greene

Prime Time

Pacman

The Diesel

The Nigerian Nightmare

Too Tall Jones

Ironhead Heyward

The Refrigerator

The Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)

Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player)

The Steel Curtain

The Hogs

The Purple People Eaters

Monsters of the Midway

The Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that “turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on”).

Pacman plays for the Bengals (and his nickname is stupid). Why is he on this list?

When he first entered the league, he was terrific and the name fit. He is one of those guys that you really have to dive into the wayback machine to go back and appreciate to get a better sense of.

If you only remember Pacman as a Bengal, yeah, you're not going to be too thrilled on that one.

He's a counterpoint to the argument you're trying to make.

(though many would say he isn't since his name is unoriginal and stupid... but that's not the way you're presenting it... which makes you look as silly as the premise of this thread)

 

[Shutout]

The Minister of Defense

Mean Joe Greene

Prime Time

Pacman

The Diesel

The Nigerian Nightmare

Too Tall Jones

Ironhead Heyward

The Refrigerator

The Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)

Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player)

The Steel Curtain

The Hogs

The Purple People Eaters

Monsters of the Midway

The Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that “turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on”).

Pacman plays for the Bengals (and his nickname is stupid). Why is he on this list?

When he first entered the league, he was terrific and the name fit. He is one of those guys that you really have to dive into the wayback machine to go back and appreciate to get a better sense of.

If you only remember Pacman as a Bengal, yeah, you're not going to be too thrilled on that one.

He's a counterpoint to the argument you're trying to make.

(though many would say he isn't since his name is unoriginal and stupid... but that's not the way you're presenting it... which makes you look as silly as the premise of this thread)

To each their own. Maybe sometimes you have to experience the great things to be able to appreciate them. If all you have ever done is get along and go along with all the simple designs, you probably would struggle to appreciate creativity and craftsmanship.

 

[Goldalene]

I prefer Muscle Hamster to Dougernaut.

 

[BroadwayG]

shoelace

shorthop

smokin

 

[CalBear]

What about The Whizzinator?

 

[sho nuff]

Beast Mode!

And FWIW, I like Muscle Hamster a lot better than Dougernaut. That's too Megatron-ish.

Dougernaut, IMO, is actually pretty awesome

You're wrong.

 

[by_the_sea_wannabe]

Silverback for Harrison

 

[sho nuff]

The Minister of Defense

Mean Joe Greene

Prime Time

Pacman

The Diesel

The Nigerian Nightmare

Too Tall Jones

Ironhead Heyward

The Refrigerator

The Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)

Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player)

The Steel Curtain

The Hogs

The Purple People Eaters

Monsters of the Midway

The Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that “turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on”).

Pacman plays for the Bengals (and his nickname is stupid). Why is he on this list?

When he first entered the league, he was terrific and the name fit. He is one of those guys that you really have to dive into the wayback machine to go back and appreciate to get a better sense of.

If you only remember Pacman as a Bengal, yeah, you're not going to be too thrilled on that one.

Pacman was a very good returner when he entered the league.

As a corner? Not so much.

 

[sho nuff]

I prefer Muscle Hamster to Dougernaut.

Id bet most sane people do.

 

[ghostguy123]

All those "cool" nicknames mentioned are from like a 40 year span.

So now we are supposed to have the same number of cool nicknames from players that are playing right now today? Seems too forced. Nicknames just happen, you can't just sit around and think them up.

Besides, there are probably just as many or more good nicknames right NOW playing than any one given year in the past. So what's the problem?

I suppose if you can't distinguish the difference in quality, you can't understand it.

I pulled up names that literally came to me in about 3 minutes. THere were MANY MANY MORE. at the same time in the late 80's, there were more iconic names than everything the last decade could muster up.

Its just a difference in what you see and know, I get it. But, again, I find it foney that one generation will describe its arguable greatest QB as a name that is his initials basically and was "borrowed" from a baseball player while another generation will simply say "Jesus in Cleats" and everyone in the room will know exactly who we are talking about.

And 30 years from now you will probably consider some of the current nicknames "iconic". Fancy that.

I also find it rather funny that you have to be all pretentious regarding your superior ability to distinguish the quality of the nicknames of the past and the nicknames of the present. You should run for some public office that oversees this stuff or something. Judge, jury, and executioner. What would YOUR nickname be??

 

[bonesman]

All those "cool" nicknames mentioned are from like a 40 year span.

So now we are supposed to have the same number of cool nicknames from players that are playing right now today? Seems too forced. Nicknames just happen, you can't just sit around and think them up.

Besides, there are probably just as many or more good nicknames right NOW playing than any one given year in the past. So what's the problem?

I suppose if you can't distinguish the difference in quality, you can't understand it.

I pulled up names that literally came to me in about 3 minutes. THere were MANY MANY MORE. at the same time in the late 80's, there were more iconic names than everything the last decade could muster up.

Its just a difference in what you see and know, I get it. But, again, I find it foney that one generation will describe its arguable greatest QB as a name that is his initials basically and was "borrowed" from a baseball player while another generation will simply say "Jesus in Cleats" and everyone in the room will know exactly who we are talking about.

And 30 years from now you will probably consider some of the current nicknames "iconic". Fancy that.

I also find it rather funny that you have to be all pretentious regarding your superior ability to distinguish the quality of the nicknames of the past and the nicknames of the present. You should run for some public office that oversees this stuff or something. Judge, jury, and executioner. What would YOUR nickname be??

It's a windup/fishing attempt... laugh it off.

 

[Borden]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_nicknames

I think when you look through this list you'll see that (although some are missed) there was just as many bad nick names from the past as there is right now. Plus, as it has already been pointed out, we have a lot more nicknames to choose from that are in the "past."

 

[FreeBaGeL]

If anything, it is a reference to his height.

And "Too Tall" Jones, references what exactly?That's the thing, you keep making these points/arguments that apply only to a subset of the old nicknames the same way they apply to a subset of the new ones and only referencing one subset in your arguments."Oh, the old nicknames were descriptive of play style, as long as you ignore all the ones that weren't. Meanwhile, the new ones aren't descriptive, as long as you ignore all the ones that are."

If anything, it is a reference to his height. Aside from the Gallopng ghost, the oldest reference only dates to the 70's or so. No where near 100 years. But the point which should be obvious is there is absolutely zero imagination or descriptive creativity in these names these days. Anything beyond asking someone to use initials seems to be too much to ask.

Even if we ignore the galloping ghost we're still talking about almost 40 years compared to 5.As far as the initials go, I'm sure if message boards existed back then people would have used initials abbreviations for many of them as well. Not everyone has a nickname, others would have been shortened in the same manner. I'm sure we would have had JMo for Joe Montana, Bsand (or BS) for Barry Sanders, etc.

I'm not the generation that wil be embarrased by this so to me its just fun to point out. But 30 years from now, there should be a great chuckle when some old geezer messmarizes people as he talks about the Steel Curtain, the Minister of Defense, and the Monsters of the Midway and then some slightly younger old geezer pipes up with "let me tell you about the Muscle Hampster and Arod.. What's that? No, not the baseball player."

Or, they'll be normal human beings and refer to them the same way they do the old ones. That is, the cool nicknames will be used and the people without nicknames will just use their names. Adrian Peterson will be AD, Marshawn Lynch will be Beast Mode, and Aaron Rodgers will be Aaron Rodgers.

I think the concept that you're missing is that there is a difference between a nickname and a message board abbreviation. Arod and Trich are just message board abbreviations because we're all lazy bastards. We shorten pretty much everyone's names in some way whereas in the past people without cool nicknames were just referred to by their name because we didn't have to type it out.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

I like nicknames as much as the next guy, and there have been amazing ones over the years. But let's not force the issue. Otherwise the NFL becomes like the UFC, where everyone feels the need to have a nickname no matter how moronic.

If I was a player, my ideal would be on achieving the level where simply my first name is instantly recognizable.

When I say Barry, who do you think of? How about Walter? Lawrence? Ronnie? How about Dan?

Though I will admit this is much easier when your name is something like Bronco, Otto, or Deacon as opposed to Joe, John, or Bob.

 

[equilibrium]

Sanchize... what about The Butt Fumbler?

 

[Mentos]

I created a whole bunch of cool nicknames in another thread on this forum last fall.

Link it?

you would have as much luck searching for it as I would

 

[vincentjmack]

Revis Christ

 

[beef]

Some nicknames are pretty gay. But nothing is gayer than abreviations. Like ADP.

 

[Mentos]

Revis Christ

Terrible nickname in every way imaginable

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

Beast Mode!

And FWIW, I like Muscle Hamster a lot better than Dougernaut. That's too Megatron-ish.

Dougernaut, IMO, is actually pretty awesome because it is much more like the truly great nicknames that actually describe a player to a degree. If you followed the Comics, it probably makes a lot more sense. There is a super-powered villain named the Juggernaut who wears a helmet and has super strength and runs through things, over things, pounds things. That, to me, is a cool nickname for a powerful running back. Much more so than a reference to a small animal that runs on a wheel and never gets anywhere.

I know exactly who the Juggernaut is...

Muscle Hamster is still more original.

 

[donkshow]

Beast Mode is the best nickname in NFL history.

All those "cool" nicknames mentioned are from like a 40 year span.

So now we are supposed to have the same number of cool nicknames from players that are playing right now today? Seems too forced. Nicknames just happen, you can't just sit around and think them up.

Besides, there are probably just as many or more good nicknames right NOW playing than any one given year in the past. So what's the problem?

Exactly.

 

[Righetti]

Brandon Lloyd -> The Matrix

 

[Righetti]

Revis Island is pretty great

 

[Righetti]

The Seahulk is sort of ridiculous

 

[Righetti]

Geno -> The Italian Stallion

 

[Righetti]

I remember some guy on these board tried to he Arian "Nation" Foster to stick, glad if didn'tMarion the Barbarian was a great nickname because those first few years on the Cowboys, he just beat people down with his running style

 

[Righetti]

Hard Hittin' Jason Witten

 

[Mentos]

Revis Island is pretty great

that is not a player nickname

 

[Righetti]

Revis Island is pretty great

that is not a player nickname

Ehh , I think it fits in the theme

 

[Righetti]

Big Easy Drew Breesy

 

[Righetti]

Ernie "The Bernie" Scott

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Stop.

 

[kurtrudder]

One of the best ones of all time was Owen "Beer Truck" Schmitt, because everyone always loves the Beer Truck

 

[DoubleG]

I think we should start calling Brandon Marshall by his initials because since he's come to Chicago he has been the ####! (I mean that in a good way for those that might not be familiar with that particular phrase).

Megatron down?

 

[Jello_Biafra]

Some nicknames are pretty gay. But nothing is gayer than abreviations. Like ADP.

Nah. Dougernaut is the gayest I've heard.

 

[Mentos]

We need to bring back great football nicknames. Whatever happened to great football nicknames, anyways? There was a time when nicknames personified the player or illustrated their alter-ego or was synonymous with the players play style: The Minister of DefenseMean Joe GreenePrime TimePacmanThe DieselThe Nigerian NightmareToo Tall JonesIronhead HeywardThe RefrigeratorThe Galloping Ghost (very old school but truly iconic)Sweetness (my personal favorite because it literally illustrated the style of the player) And back in the day, they didnt even limit great nicknames to individuals; entire units got in on the act: The Steel CurtainThe HogsThe Purple People EatersMonsters of the MidwayThe Electric Company (probably one of the most creative ever, named for the Bills o-line that turned the Juice (OJ Simpson) on). These nicknames are so creative and iconic that it is almost impossible to hear them and not stir up very vivid memories of entire teams and styles of play. But in todays world? These are pitiful. Every nickname seems to be nothing more creative or inspiring than simple initials. SJAX,DJAX andFJAX-Boy, didnt see that last one coming. TRICH, CJ, AP, -Whats good enough for the Jacksons is good enough for the Richardsons, Johnsons, and Petersons.AJ-Whats good enough for the Petersons is good enough for about 4 guys with the initials AJ.Kaep, Fitz, Gronk-Heck, half of us cant spell these long names so lets just cut them in half.ARod-Wow, one of our top 5 players gets nothing more than a stolen nickname from baseballBaseball, people! We are STEALING from baseball! Baseball is now more creative than football and we must steal from it! And when we do get creative? The Muscle hamster-This one makes my 7 year old niece giggle every time I say it. Pathetic. We have some of the greatest collective talent playing in the NFL right now. They DESERVE great nicknames. So, heres our assignment. Create some danged good nicknames for these guys and start using the power of the Internet to get it out there. Heres one we could start with. I wish I had thought of it but its not original. Hence forth, Doug Martin is no longer the name that makes 7 year old Abby laugh and flex, and then roll in a ball. He is now The Dougernaut. Comic book guys will get this immediately and its perfect. An unstoppable force of power under a helmet. The Dougernaut. Lets go peoplebe the guy that penned the awesome nickname on one of your favorite players and lets put the Sesame Street era of nicknames behind us.

if I get time I will post a ton more this weekend. Many of the truly great ones were of players who played before 1980.

 

[Matt Bitonti]

during OTA's mark sanchez got picked off by a 2nd string NT

Damon Harrison a.k.a. "Big Snacks"

http://www.mainenewssimply.com/content/nesn/jets-rookie-damon-harrison-earns-nickname-big-snacks-motivated-rice-krispie-treats-he-w

 

[Xue]

Revis Island is pretty great

that is not a player nickname

You're right, it's a theme park.

 

[Shutout]

All those "cool" nicknames mentioned are from like a 40 year span.

So now we are supposed to have the same number of cool nicknames from players that are playing right now today? Seems too forced. Nicknames just happen, you can't just sit around and think them up.

Besides, there are probably just as many or more good nicknames right NOW playing than any one given year in the past. So what's the problem?

I suppose if you can't distinguish the difference in quality, you can't understand it.

I pulled up names that literally came to me in about 3 minutes. THere were MANY MANY MORE. at the same time in the late 80's, there were more iconic names than everything the last decade could muster up.

Its just a difference in what you see and know, I get it. But, again, I find it foney that one generation will describe its arguable greatest QB as a name that is his initials basically and was "borrowed" from a baseball player while another generation will simply say "Jesus in Cleats" and everyone in the room will know exactly who we are talking about.

And 30 years from now you will probably consider some of the current nicknames "iconic". Fancy that.

I also find it rather funny that you have to be all pretentious regarding your superior ability to distinguish the quality of the nicknames of the past and the nicknames of the present. You should run for some public office that oversees this stuff or something. Judge, jury, and executioner. What would YOUR nickname be??

Hmm..Maybe "The Realist". You assume I posted this based on my royal decree when I woke up and summoned the servant's to my court this morning but, alas, you would be in error. I actually posted this thread after reading three different articles where some guys that actually get paid for sharing their thoughts in the world and get paid for it shared the same sentiment.

I posted it here as a light, off-season post where I actually made the incredible mistake of thinking that there would be friendly people all about that would wish to think about their favorite players and be creative and toss something out there. Then, with this being a pretty well-known FF forum, I thought "Wouldn't it be great if one or two of these guys came up with something that everyone jumped on and it became the norm? Then those guys could say' Hey! I came up with that!'"

But, as per usual, there is always an innate compulsion in a certain sect of this community that wishes to do nothing but be a belligerent contrarian for nothing more than the sake of being a belligerent contraraian, completely devoid and incapable of executing any form of manner and grace and socializational skill.

Now, with that being said, cue the guy that will come and read this for its title and see all this snot-slinging and tell us both "Lighten up Nancy!" and remind us that this is counterproductive to the actual topic and maybe then, for those who want to enjoy the post for it's original purpose will and you and I can stop discussing things no one cares about.