History FanNickname / Sports

* Carolina Panthers and former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton accrued a startling amount of nicknames in his first year with the Panthers. Among all his monikers, two really stand out, "[=SuperCam=]" (known in his rookie year for occasional superhuman plays. Also, his touchdown celebration references Franchise/{{Superman}}.) and "Ace Boogie".

* "Franchise/{{Superman}}" - Jimmie Johnson, one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR's modern era and tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most Cup Series championships. Him passing Earnhardt on the all-time win list while driving a ''Superman'' paint scheme[[note]]Specifically to promote ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''; teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' paint scheme that same race.[[/note]] is what sealed the deal.

** Anderson Silva is "Spider" for his fandom of Franchise/SpiderMan.

** After it became known the the Astros [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat illegally used technology to steal signs]] to win that year's World Series, detractors began calling them "Trashstros". That came about because the Astros were banging on trash cans to signal pitches.[[note]]Stealing signs by itself is not illegal; teams will often try to do so when they get a runner to second base, giving him a direct view of the catcher. What ''is'' illegal is using technology to do so in real time (in the Astros' case, analyzing a live video feed streamed into the clubhouse).[[/note]]

** James "[[{{Transformers}} Optimus Reim]]" Reimer.

* Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was given the handle "[[{{Transformers}} Megatron]]" by teammates. The name caught on in a big way with fans and the media.

** More recent English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, now a presenter of ''Series/TopGearUK'', became "Freddie" from his alleged resemblance to [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone]]. In fact, he's now an example of DoNotCallMePaul. He told his fellow ''Top Gear'' presenter Chris Harris on-air that he strongly prefers Freddie, and the BBC calls him "Freddie Flintoff" in the credits and all publicity material.

* Creator/TomBrady, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was often called T[[PrecisionFStrike F]]B by fans of the New England Patriots, where he played the first 20 years of his NFL career. (His full name is Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.) There's also "[=TB12=]" (12 being Brady's jersey number). He has also been called "Tom Terrific".

* Charles Edward Greene, better known as "Mean Joe" Greene. Defensive Tackle and the cornerstone of the "Steel Curtain" defense that helped establish the Pittsburgh Steelers' dynasty of the 70's. Not to mention the star of one of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Kid,_Catch! most iconic commercials]] of the '70s.[[note]]Cool fact: By some (but not all) accounts, his alma mater of North Texas changed its athletic nickname from "Eagles" to "Mean Green" ''specifically to honor him''.[[/note]]

** Fans know Grossman better as "Rax Grissman", a simple corruption of his name based on some surprisingly difficult-to-explain MemeticMutation

* The legendary Joe Montana has gained a handful of nicknames:

* New York Jets QB "Broadway Joe" Namath, so-called because of his jet-setter lifestyle which was highly irregular among professional athletes at the time (Sixties to Seventies).
* Carolina Panthers and former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, accrued a startling amount of nicknames in his first year with the Panthers. Among all his monikers, two really stand out, "[=SuperCam=]" (known in his rookie year for occasional superhuman plays. Also, his touchdown celebration references Franchise/{{Superman}}.) and "Ace Boogie".
* Former Detroit Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky is often called "Safety Dan" (a play upon the Men Without Hats song "Safety Dance") because of how during the Lions' infamous [[EpicFail 0-16 season in 2008]], [[NeverLiveItDown he mistakenly ran out of the endzone during a game against the Minnesota Vikings, giving them a safety]]. For extra fail, those 2 points ended up making the margin of victory the Vikings needed.

* Former San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers QB Phillip Rivers was often referred to as "Marmalard" by sports writer Drew Magary, due to his passing resemblance to Greg Marmalard from ''Film/AnimalHouse''.

** Or "Captain Fat Fuck, Leader of Men" by Youtuber WebVideo/UrinatingTree during UT's ''Days of Our Steelers'' segments. This was due to Roethlisberger spending most of the 2018 season throwing his teammates under the bus and blaming them for his mistakes during key games. Similarly, UT also gave Antonio Brown the name "The Diva".

** And his fans were known as the "Romosexuals"

* Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson goes by "[[{{Pun}} DangeRuss]]" for [[XanatosSpeedChess his aggressive and unpredictable playmaking]].

* The three key players of the 90s era Dallas Cowboys team are collectively known as "The Triplets": Troy Aikman (QB), Michael Irvin (WR), and Emmitt Smith (RB). They also won [[RuleOfThree three]] Super Bowls as well.

* Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, due to his status as the heir-apparent to Tom Brady as the face of the NFL as far as quarterbacks are concerned, has been given the nickname "Baby GOAT", in addition to [[Franchise/TheMuppets Kermit]].
* Former Denver Broncos QB Drew Lock was called "Horse Cock Lock" by Youtuber Brandon Perna.

* Cris Collinsworth - "Collinsworthless" according to some of the people who don't like him.

** The Greatest Show on Turf: The St. Louis Rams and their high-flying offense of the late-90's and early-00's.

* Steve Glenn, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and [=SportsNet=] media personality who does a lot of online work, is better known by his online handle, "Steve Dangle".

** Speaking of Max, some nicknamed him as "Mad Max", due to his ballsy driving style. "Teen" was also a quite popular nickname until he turned 20... in the last half of his ''third full F1 season''. Alternatively, "Super Max", care of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43HCYSXZ9GI this]] FilkSong.

** His son Carlos Jr. (who, in stark contrast, surprisingly races in F1) earned the nickname "[[Music/{{Sade}} Smooth Operator]]", after his singing antics in the 2019 British GP.

* "F1's Crown Jewel" for the Monte Carlo circuit in UsefulNotes/{{Monaco}}, due to its historical importance to the sport as a whole, and to the vast number of the rich and famous who visit there every weekend.

* "Watermelon Man" - Creator/RossChastain, who grew up on a watermelon farm in Florida and celebrates victories by {{smashing|Watermelons}} them. His ballsy wall-riding move to get a 4th place finish at the 2022 fall race at Martinsville to earn a spot in the championship finale was immediately dubbed the "Hail Melon" by the fans and media.

*** Not just people named Rodriguez, but anyone whose last name starts with "Rod". Both longtime Green Bay Packers (now New York Jets) quarterback Aaron Rodgers and UsefulNotes/{{tennis}} pro Andy Roddick are also known as A-Rod (and sometimes "A-Rodg," in the case of the former). There was actually a ''Series/SportsCenter'' commercial where Roddick was upset that "A-Rod" wasn't catching on as a nickname for him in light of Rodriguez.

* When the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, they were known as "The Bums" or as their loyal fanbase would say "Dem Bums".

** The original Yankee Stadium, opened in 1923 and closed in 2008, is "The House that Ruth Built", as Babe Ruth's rising power and fame is credited with enabling the Yankees to muster up the funds needed to build a separate home for the team (before that, they shared Polo Grounds with the then-New York Giants, with whom they've had a contentious relationship).
** The Polo Grounds, where the Giants played before moving to San Francisco in 1958, was known as "The Bathtub" due to its odd horseshoe-shaped field. Candlestick Park, where they played from 1960-1999, was shortened to "The Stick".

* Brian Scalabrine, a Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls EnsembleDarkhorse and perpetual bench-rider who's now a TV analyst for the Celtics, is known as "The Man. The Myth. The Legend." and "The White Mamba", both of which are {{Ascended Meme}}s as TV announcers have used them. In the case of "White Mamba", it ''was'' an Ascended Meme until Taurasi took over that name.

* Jeremy Lin, now playing in the Taiwanese league after years as an NBA journeyman (plus time in the NBA G League and China), managed to amass dozens of nicknames in the wake of his out-of-nowhere star turn with the New York Knicks after he began substituting for an injured Carmelo Anthony. "Linsanity" is the most popular, and many of them follow that pattern ("Linvincible", for instance). A few of the more creative ones are "[[Franchise/TheIncredibles Mr. Lincredible]]" and "[[Manga/DragonBallZ Android 17]]" (after his jersey number).

* Tony Allen's suffocating defense, emblematic of the 2010s "Grit and Grind" Grizzlies, is known as the "Grindfather".

** This spawned "The Big Wiesy" for Michelle Wie, similar in swing tempo and almost as tall (6'1"/1.85 m).

** Teemu "The Finnish Flash" Selanne

** The Russian Five/Red Army - Igor Larionov, Viacheslav "Slava" Fetisov, Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, and Vladimir Konstantinov. These five were all players on the Soviet national hockey team in the 1980's and were put together after the fall of the Soviet Union in Detroit by Scotty Bowman. They were dominant in the Red Wings' Cup run in 1997 and were crucial in the team's repeat the next year (in Konstantinov's case, as a rallying cry - just days after the Wings won the Cup in '97 he was involved in a limousine accident that ended his career).

* Late Turkish weightlifting great Naim Süleymanoğlu was "Pocket Hercules". He was all of 4'10" (1.47 m), and the heaviest weight class in which he competed was 64 kg (141 lb). He's one of only seven men to have lifted three times his body weight in the clean and jerk,[[note]]in which the lifter raises the weight bar to his/her shoulders, and then lifts it overhead[[/note]] and the only one to have snatched[[note]]in which the lifter raises the bar overhead in a single uninterrupted motion[[/note]] 2.5 times his body weight.

* The Houston Dynamo have been nicknamed the "Orange Crush" and their stadium the "(Dutch) Oven" due to it not being one of the most comfortable during Houston [[HeatWave summer afternoons]].

** The Legion of Boom: The hard-hitting Seattle Seahawks secondary of the early-to-mid 2010's.

** The UrExample of the Four Horsemen in sports wasn't the [[Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen pro wrestling stable]], but rather Notre Dame's backfield of the early 1920s. In 1924, famed sportswriter Grantland Rice coined the nickname after seeing Notre Dame upset Army (then a major football power), and a student publicity aide to Fighting Irish coach Knute Rockne made sure it caught on.

** The Notre Dame FightingIrish football team are also known as The Golden Domer's, because their golden helmets looks just like the campus's main administration building, which has a golden dome on it's entrance. Note that this only refers to the football team, even though the hockey and lacrosse teams also wear golden helmets.

** "The Factory of Sadness" - [=FirstEnergy=] Stadium, current home of [[ButtMonkey the Cleveland Browns]]. [[SelfDeprecatingHumor Coined by a Browns fan]] [[https://youtu.be/tRBDMMVctu8 after another lifeless loss against the Houston Texans in 2011]]. In 2018, after rookie QB Baker Mayfield led the Browns to their first win since Christmas 2016, many fans began referring to the stadium as "The Bakery".

** "The House of Pain" - Former home of the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) earned this name due to the Oilers' hard-hitting style and the ear piercing decibels of the crowd.

** "The House that Rockne Built" - Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana. So named because it was head coach Knunte Rockne's idea to build the stadium.

** "The Swamp," best known as the nickname for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators in Gainesville. The nickname actually originated in 1991 with Florida's then-head coach, Steve Spurrier, but the fans quickly bought into it.

* "Franchise/{{Superman}}" - Jimmie Johnson, one of the winning-est drivers in NASCAR's modern era and tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most Cup Series championships. Him passing Earnhardt on the all-time win list while driving a ''Superman'' paint scheme[[note]]Specifically to promote ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''; teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' paint scheme that same race.[[/note]] is what sealed the deal.

* "Watermelon Man" - Ross Chastain, who grew up on a watermelon farm in Florida and celebrates victories by [[SmashingWatermelons smashing]] them. His ballsy wall-riding move to get a 4th place finish at the 2022 fall race at Martinsville to earn a spot in the championship finale was immediately dubbed the "Hail Melon" by the fans and media.

*** Not just people named Rodriguez, but anyone whose last name starts with "Rod". Both Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and UsefulNotes/{{tennis}} pro Andy Roddick are also known as A-Rod (and sometimes "A-Rodg," in the case of the former). There was actually a ''Series/SportsCenter'' commercial where Roddick was upset that "A-Rod" wasn't catching on as a nickname for him in light of Rodriguez.

* During the late 90's, the Houston Astros duo of Hall of Famers [[HeterosexualLifePartners Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell]], along with Derrick Bell, Sean Berry, Lance Berkman, and for a short while, Carlos Beltran, gained the named "Killer B's" for their prolific offense. It's also pulled out whenever the 'Stros have two or more people with "B" names.

* Former Red Sox corner infielder Kevin Youkilis was known as the Greek God of Walks, for his incredible patience at the plate that led to a lot of base on balls, twice having streaks of 45+ games of reaching base safely while in the minors.

* Noah Syndergaard, who made his name with the Mets but is now with the Phillies, is nicknamed "Thor" (after the Norse god and Marvel Comics superhero) due to his height (6-6), long blond hair, and the similarity between his last name and the fictional location Asgard, where the superhero is from. It began in 2014 after he shared a picture of himself on social media dressed as the superhero, and the nickname stuck when he debuted in 2015 for the Mets. When lightning struck the Empire State Building in 2016, Noah tweeted "Wasn't me."

* Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is J.J. Swat(t) due to his swatted passes total.

!!UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} drivers
* The King – Not Elvis Presley, but rather legendary NASCAR driver UsefulNotes/RichardPetty.
* The Fox, later The Silver Fox – Petty's great rival David Pearson.
* The Intimidator – Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) His nickname was so famous, the minor-league baseball team he partially bought was called the Kannapolis Intimidators until 2020 (after Earnhardt's family had sold its stake in the team; the team is now the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers).

* Awesome Bill from Dawsonville – Bill Elliott.
** Also known as Million Dollar Bill, for being the first driver to claim the million dollar bonus after winning three of the four crown jewels in a single season (1985) after winning the Daytona 500, Winston 500 and Southern 500.
* Rowdy – Kyle Busch.
** Others include "Wild Thing", "The Candy Man" (for his longtime sponsorship by M&M's and other Mars candy brands), and "Shrub" (because he's the younger Busch brother).

* Fireball - Edward Glenn Roberts, which became HarsherInHindsight when he suffered what proved to be fatal burns after his car burst into flames.[[note]]Interestingly, his nickname dated to his teens, and initially had nothing to do with his driving—it came from his fastball, as he was a promising pitcher in UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} before deciding to make racing his full-time career.[[/note]]
* Sliced Bread – Joey Logano, bestowed by NASCAR driver Randy [=LaJoie=] when he saw the then-15-year-old Logano racing.

** Handsome Harry Gant due to his Hollywood good looks.
** The Bandit due to his longtime sponsorship by the Skoal Bandit smokeless tobacco brand.
** Mr. September after winning four consecutive Cup Series races and two Busch Series races in September 1991.
** High Groove Harry because he usually ran the high line in a corner.
* Texas Terry - Terry Labonte because his hometown was Corpus Christi.
* The Closer - Kevin Harvick, due to his ability to win races that he wasn't a threat to even win. Fuel mileage is Kevin's usual partner-in-crime when this ability kicks in.

** His HairTriggerTemper and his predilection for fights, especially early on, earned him the nickname "Happy Harvick".
* The Mayor - Jeff Burton.
* Mr. Excitement - Jimmy Spencer, from his aggresive driving in his modified days.
* Rocketman - Ryan Newman, for setting a record six poles in his rookie season and for his engineering degree.
* That Jones Boy - Erik Jones, after commentator Ken Squier kept calling him that during the 2017 Southern 500.
* Superman - Jimmie Johnson, one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR's modern era and tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most Cup Series championships. Him passing Earnhardt on the all-time win list while driving a ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' paint scheme is what sealed the deal.

* The Cuban Missile - Aric Almirola, a nickname from his college days.
* The Rooster - Ricky Rudd.
* Jaws - Darrell Waltrip, coined by Cale Yarborough for his mouthy attitude in the early 80's.
* [=DiBurrito=] - a memetic mangling of Matt [=DiBenedetto=]'s last name.
* Front-Row Joe - Joe Nemechek, whose execellent qualifying efforts didn't exact translate to success on the race track.
* Like in F1, competitors who [[DrivesLikeCrazy Drive Like Crazy]] get appropriate monikers:
** Swervin' Irvan - Ernie Irvan.
** Wrecky Spinhouse Jr. - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

** The top-ranked 2019 recruiting class for South Carolina women's basketball—Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, and Olivia Thompson—created a group chat they called "The Freshies", which quickly got picked up by Gamecocks fans. During their four years in Columbia, they made all three Final Fours that were played (no NCAA tournament was held in 2020 thanks to COVID), as well as the natty in 2022. Boston was the consensus national player of the year in 2022 and the WNBA's first draft pick in 2023, while Cooke and Amihere went in the first round of that draft. Their college careers did end on a down note in 2023 thanks to...

** ..."The Law Firm". Or, in full, "The Law Firm of Clark and Czinano".{{note]]pronounced si-NON-oh[[/note]] In 2020, Caitlin Clark arrived at Iowa as a highly touted freshman guard. She joined junior center Monika Czinano, a lightly recruited player who emerged as a starter the previous season. The nickname was coined by a Big Ten Network analyst but quickly picked up by Hawkeyes fans. In 2021, Iowa won the Big Ten tournament, with both being named All-Big Ten and Clark sharing national freshman of the year honors with [=UConn's=] Paige Bueckers.{{note]]pronounced "beckers"[[/note]] The next year, the Hawkeyes won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament tirles; Clark became the first woman ever to lead Division I in scoring and assists in the same season; and Czinano led the nation in field goal percentage. The Law Firm stayed together for a third season, with Czinano taking advantage of a fifth year of eligibility granted to all NCAA basketball players active in the COVID-disrupted 2020–21 season. The Hawkeyes again won the Big Ten tournament and made their first Final Four in 30 years. Clark torched South Carolina for 41 points in the semifinals, but the Hawkeyes couldn't seal the deal against LSU in the final. Clark won all national player of the year awards that season.

* Former Denver Broncos QB Drew Lock was called "Horse Cock Lock" by YouTuber Brandon Perna.

** The 1992 USA team; The DreamTeam. So named because of the 12 players on the team, 11 are in the basketball Hall of Fame. They also had 3 Hall of Fame coaches. Not to mention the first Olympic team made of NBA players.

* Former Chargers QB Phillip Rivers was often referred to as "Marmalard", due to his passing resemblence to Greg Marmalard from ''Film/AnimalHouse''. The term was coined by sports writer Drew Magary.

** And his fans were known as the [[IncrediblyLamePun "Romosexuals"]]

*** Within the 'Fun Bunch' there was a [[IncrediblyLamePun smaller]] sub-group known as the Smurfs - a trio of wide receivers measuring from 5'10" at the tallest to 5'7" at the shortest.

* Several decades after Gehrig, the Baltimore Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr. (no slouch of a player himself and one of the few indisputable bright spots in the Orioles' otherwise checkered baseball history) took Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak (of 2,130 games), broke it, and then pushed his own streak to SerialEscalation levels ('''read: 2,632 games.'''). He was [[IncrediblyLamePun saddled]] with the rather uncreative name of [[MadeOfIron Iron Man]]... presumably because "Iron Horse" was already taken. He's also referred to as the "Iron Bird", obviously playing off his team name.

* Pablo Sandoval got the nickname WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda after he leaped over a catcher's tag at home plate, showing [[{{Acrofatic}} amazing agility for a man of his size (and shape)]]. He's also sometimes known as "Fat Ichiro", due to his batting prowess being comparable to prime Ichiro Suzuki.

* Jeremy Lin, now playing in the Taiwanese league after years as an NBA journeyman (plus time in the NBA G League and China), managed to amass dozens of nicknames in the wake of his out-of-nowhere star turn with the New York Knicks after he began substituting for an injured Carmelo Anthony. "Linsanity" is the most popular, and many of them follow that pattern ("Linvincible", for instance). A few of the more creative ones are "[[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Lincredible]]" and "[[Manga/DragonBallZ Android 17]]" (after his jersey number).

** New Zealand: [[IncrediblyLamePun Tall Blacks]] (men), Black Ferns (women).[[note]] Both nicknames are based on those of the country's national rugby union teams—the men's All Blacks and women's Silver Ferns. The national sporting colors are black and silver, and a fern is one of several national symbols.[[/note]]

* Kiki Musampa[[note]]Kiki is a nickname deriving from Kizito, his birth name[[/note]] was affectionately known by fans as [[IncrediblyLamePun Chris]] during his time at Manchester City.[[note]]as in 'Christmas Hamper'[[/note]]

** Australia national team: "Socceroos"[[note]]as you might guess, an [[IncrediblyLamePun unholy pairing of soccer and kangaroos]][[/note]] (men) and "Matildas"[[note]]from iconic Australian song "Waltzing Matilda"[[/note]] (women).