While he was a charming man off the field, Payton earned his nickname during a practice at Jackson State. After briskly cutting to evade a would-be tackler, Payton shouted, “sweetness is your weakness,” en route to the end zone. Finding the end zone was commonplace for the Tigers running back, as he set the program record for career rushing touchdowns (65).
It isn’t hard to imagine how Jevon “The Freak” Kearse acquired his nickname. He stood 6’4″, 250+ pounds, with a 7’2″ wingspan and 11.63″ hands (the Combine record is 11.75). That’s already a shiver-inducing build, but Kearse also ran a 4.43 40-yard dash and jumped 40″ in the vertical.
So-called “The Eraser,” Nelson’s nickname was twofold: 1) He erased receivers over the middle of the field with his bone-crushing hits, and 2) he erased positive gains in his area, rarely making mistakes as the last line of defense.
Irvin set Miami school records with 142 career receptions for 2,423 yards and 26 touchdowns, winning a national championship in the process (1987). Irvin called himself “The Playmaker,” but his penchant for big plays in big games likely would’ve led to the moniker regardless.
Greene played football for North Texas, who were the Eagles back then. Chants began in the stands, “Come on green, get mean … Here we go, mean green.” That quickly became the “Mean Greene” moniker for the ferocious DT’s play on the field.
In 2011, a viral video of a honey badger doing honey badger things with comedic commentary took the internet by storm. Defensive coordinator John Chavis discovered the video and shared it with the team, explaining how Mathieu’s propensity for turnovers and approach to defense was akin to the fearless creature.
At Clemson, Perry was already a massive individual. Teammate Ray Brown saw firsthand just how massive, as Perry filled the entire door frame of an elevator as he stepped off. Brown called him “GE” for the General Electric household appliance brand. But it ultimately morphed into “The Refrigerator.”
“[A journalist at the Observer (ND’s student-run newspaper)] wrote an article saying something about how I looked like a bus or something like that, and I was taking guys for a ride, and it just kind of stuck,” Bettis said. “So the student body would chant, ‘Nobody stops the bus,’ when I was playing at Notre Dame.”
Before arriving on Tennessee’s campus, Reggie White became an ordained minister at the age of 17. But what he unleashed on the college level was unholy. From 1980-83, he generated 293 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 32 career sacks (a school record until 2016), three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and seven batted passes.
This one needs no introduction. Deion Sanders became “Prime Time” back in high school, so that persona doesn’t make the list. However, Sanders gained another nickname during his tenure at Florida State.
