At an awards show honoring the biggest names in the NFL, one would think that the presenters of each award would, well, know the names of the people they’re about to hand awards to.
That was not the case on Thursday night, when both New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Seattle Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba had the pronunciation of their names horrifically butchered by celebrities on stage.
First was Vrabel, who won AP Coach of the Year. Rather, Mike “Verbal” did. Actress Tiffany Haddish caught some heat on social media for the misstep.
But the biggest blunder of the night belonged to Druski, a social media celeb who announced the winner of the AP Offensive Player of the Year award alongside Hall of Famer Barry Sanders. The comedian failed to pronounce Smith-Njigba’s name multiple times before Sanders gave him an assist.
The comment about JSN deciding not “to pull up tonight” also caught folks off guard. Smith-Njigba wasn’t at the awards show because his team is still preparing to play a game. In the Super Bowl.
But that’s beside the point.
Druski’s mishap on stage didn’t sit well with fans, but it also drew the ire of JSN’s teammate — linebacker Uchenna Nwosu — who posted that Druski was “lame” for the incident. Former LSU national champion defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko also posted that it was “disrespectful asf.”
Even the Seahawks’ official PR account on social media called the move a “big whiff.”
Actor Jon Hamm hosted the show, which was in its 15th year. The NFL clearly placed an emphasis on appealing to as broad a base as possible with its presenter choices, but it’s undoubtedly a bad look for the league when a night honoring your biggest stars prominently features people who clearly have no clue who those stars are.
There’s always next year. Maybe a TikToker can do better.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
