What’s with all the same names???

Adrian Peterson for the Bears

Adrian Peterson for the Vikings

Coincidences happen and but in American Football, this seems to come up quite a lot and in weird ways. It’s like playing Madden NFL (or a soccer equivalent like Football Manager) through many seasons till you get new young players named “James Manning” or “Willie Polamalu” after the famous ones we know have gone older and retired, and it seems to happen like this a lot in the NFL. Are we in some sort of real life “Matrix” here where an unseen programmer comes up with real players’ names in the same way? First, you’ll get these uncommon last name similarities of whom the players are unrelated as far as I know:

• Dan Cody / Shaun Cody / Terrence Cody
• Antrell Rolle / Samari Rolle / Myron Rolle
• Warren Sapp / Benny Sapp / Bob Sapp / Patrick Sapp / Ricky Sapp
• Jameel McClain / Le’Ron McClain / Rolando McClain
• Sidney Rice / Ray Rice / Jerry Rice / Simeon Rice
• Max Starks / Randy Starks / Duane Starks / Scott Starks / James Starks
• Reggie Wells / Beanie Wells / Chris Wells / Jonathan Wells
• Ernie Sims / Ryan Sims / Eugene Sims
• Charles Woodson / Rod Woodson / Darren Woodson / Andre Woodson / Stoney Woodson
• Mike Bell / Tatum Bell / Demetrius Bell / Kahlil Bell / Jacob Bell / Joique Bell
• Champ Bailey / Boss Bailey / Patrick Bailey
• DJ Ware / Demarcus Ware / Andre Ware / Matt Ware / Jeremy Ware
• Perrish Cox / Bryan Cox / Derek Cox / Mike Cox / Kennard Cox
• Lesean McCoy/Colt McCoy/Matt McCoy/Gerald McCoy/Anthony McCoy
• Will Herring / Kim Herring / Keegan Herring
• Darren McFadden / Walter McFadden /Bryant McFadden / Jaevery McFadden /Mike McFadden
• Nick Harper / Rod Harper / Justin Harper / Roman Harper
• Leonard Pope / Geoffrey Pope / Derrick Pope
• Deion Branch /Tyvon Branch / Alan Branch
• Golden Tate / Brandon Tate / Ben Tate
• Stephen Mcgee / Terrence McGee / Scotty McGee
• Marion Barber / Tiki & Ronde Barber (twins) / Shawn Barber / Dominique Barber
• Dane Fletcher / London Fletcher / Damion Fletcher / Bradley Fletcher / John Fletcher
• Mike Clayton / Mark Clayton / Keenan Clayton / Thomas Clayton / Patrick Clayton
• Greg Carr / Chris Carr / Brandon Carr

And this is a list without the Lewises, the Johnsons, the Smiths, the Williamses, because hey, they’re all pretty common too. But maybe still, that’s okay, coincidences happen. Well, then you get some other unrelated screwball same-names at the same positions like:

• Marshall & Kevin Faulk, both running backs
• William & Randall Gay, both cornerbacks
• Michael & Reggie Bush, both running backs
• and crazy 4 Mike, Tatum, Joique & Kahlil Bell, all running backs!

OK, still simple coincidence, perhaps. And now here’s when it gets weird. Now here are those with EXACTLY the same names.

• Mike Adams (Arizona DB) & Mike Adams (Cleveland CB)
• Chris Clemons (Miami FS) & Chris Clemons (Philadelphia DE)
• Will Allen (Tampa Bay FS) & Will Allen (Miami CB)
• Chris Baker (New England TE) & Chris Baker (Denver DE)
• Michael Bennett (San Diego HB) & Michael Bennett (Tampa Bay DE)
• Anthony Gonzalez (Indianapolis WR) & Anthony Gonzalez (Atlanta TE)
• Chris Henry (Houston HB) & Chris Henry (Cincinnati WR)
• Mike Jenkins (Atlanta WR) & Mike Jenkins (Dallas CB)
• Charlie Johnson (Indianapolis T) & Charlie Johnson (Carolina DE)
• Chris Johnson (Tennessee HB) & Chris Johnson (Oakland CB)
• Michael Johnson (Cincinnati DE) & Michael Johnson (New York Giants FS)
• Alex Smith (San Francisco QB) & Alex Smith (Philadelphia TE)
• Marcus Smith (Buffalo DE) & Marcus Smith (Baltimore WR)
• John Wade (St. Louis CB) & John Wade (Oakland C)
• Kyle Williams (Buffalo DT) & Kyle Williams (Seattle T)
• Roy Williams (Cincinnati SS) & Roy Williams (Dallas WR)

16 pairs from a pool of only a couple of thousand?

And then not only that, now it gets EVEN MORE WEIRD with the same names people playing at the same positions:

• Adrian Peterson (Chicago Bears running back) & Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings running back)
• Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers wide receiver) & Steve Smith (NY Giants wide receiver)
• Zach Miller (Jacksonville Jaguars tight end) & Zach Miller (Oakland Raiders tight end)

And these are players who are pretty much still active!

And then, another one to add, what’s with all the quarterback “Matts” in the NFL these days?

• Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks)
• Matt Cassel (Chiefs)
• Matt Ryan (Falcons)
• Matt Moore (Panthers)
• Matt Stafford (Lions)
• Matt Schaub (Texans)
• Matt Leinart (Texans)
• Matt Gutierrez (Bears)
• Matt Baker (Bills)
• Matt Flynn (Packers)

Even for those who started at some point this season, you’re looking at Hasselbeck, Moore, Ryan, Cassel, Stafford & Schaub, 6 out of a pool of 44 quarterbacks since 15 Oct 2010 who’ve started a game this season, a whopping 13.6%.

So there you go! This proves we are living in the Matrix, and that some unseen God Gamer is playing us and that the atoms that make up our bodies are the pixels in the computer, all generated through pre-programmed algorithms in a giant real life supercomputer! NOOOOooooooo….!

OK, jokes aside… I think I’ve spent waaaay too much time thinking about this. Just had to get it out of my chest and move on!

Guy Whimper, awesomest misnomer since "Little John"

Some other NFL name observations:

• Would love to see the 3 G-kowskis in the same team, Bruce Gradkowski completes a pass to Rob/Dan Gronkowski, and Stephen Gostkowski finishes the play with the extra point. How awesome is that?
• My favourite wimpy name for an NFL player, Guy Whimper Offensive Tackle for the Jaguars
• Not really football but I love the same name: Evan Longoria baseball pitcher & Eva Longoria actress. I bet Evan’s teammates will never leave it down.

Who dat Superbowl XLIV champs?

Ok. So I’m a diehard Ravens fan, but there are just some games where I just feel as passionate rooting for another team. Cases in point: NY Giants beating the NE Patriots couple of years back. Really wanted the Cardinals to beat the Steelers last year and got slightly… only slightly, depressed when they didn’t in a pretty heartbreaking fashion. And today, when the Saints finally achieved their storybook ending. I think this is the storybook endings to end all sports storybook endings. The kind of story that people make movies out of them. Seriously, if it needs any more reiteration… New Orleans, post Katrina. The tragedy. The team who has never reached the Superbowl and who has ever only won 2 games in the postseason. (this season, they won 3, more than they ever had combined in their entire history!) People thinking that the city won’t bounce back. Few years later, hosting the Superbowl. 9 days away from Mardi Gras. Playing against an almost invincible quarterback in Peyton Manning, the best athlete to play the game. Coming back from 10 points down to win it in the end. Jeezus.

Come to think of it, the past 3 superbowls have been priceless. Giants and Steelers winning it at the final moment and now, this. It’s like having 3 Liverpool comebacks against Milan in a row in the Champions League.

Congrats to the Saints. Can’t wait for the movie to come out in a few years. (Luke Wilson to play Drew Brees?)