Tyrod is Taylor made for his nickname T-Mobile
Nicknames for NFL players are usually assigned to a rookie by the veteran players. Some stick and some don’t. Tyrod Taylor got the nickname T-Mobile for his “mobility” while he was still a player at Virginia Tech. Recently, Fox News thought he should get a new one based on his post-game outfits.
If the Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs today, it will probably have a lot to do with Tyrod running the ball when the pocket breaks down. In my opinion, he’s one of the best QB’s in the NFL when it comes to getting out of trouble and throwing on the run. Let’s just hope that T-Mobile's receivers don’t drop any calls when he passes those balls! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I had to throw that poetic pun in there.
There are also nicknames for groups of players that have become nationally recognized and will last forever, like the “Electric Company”, the “Fearsome Foursome”, “The Purple People Eaters” and of course my favorite, the “Bermuda Triangle” which was made up of Fred Smerlas, Jim Haslett and Shane Nelson. They swallowed up running backs and made them disappear for the rest of the game. It made my job as a Free Safety a lot easier when I didn’t have to worry about a fullback coming at me like a runaway train.
I played during an era when nicknames were given to just about every player that set foot on the field - sometimes more than one. My nicknames were “Spiderman” – which Phil Villapiano gave me because I played for the Richmond Spiders and “Milhous” which Reggie McKenzie gave me because that was President Richard Nixon’s middle name. Even a few entrepreneurial minded fans got into the name game and printed a T-Shirt with my picture and the title “The Interceptor.” Sure wish I collected some of the royalties on the sale of that memorabilia. I could have bought a cup of coffee with the proceeds.
Here are some other popular NFL nicknames that have stuck with players. See how many of the players you can name. No cheating.
Broadway, Super Freak, Juice, Prime Time, Beast Mode, Megatron, Cookie, Night Train, White Shoes, Bus, Crazy Legs, The Fridge, The Snake, Caddillac, Sweetness, Too Tall, Pacman, Hollywood, Ghost and the Nigerian Nightmare.
What was your nickname?
