Top 25 NFL Player Nicknames Of All-Time
By Neal Lynch
#8. “The Bus” Jerome Bettis
Though Jerome has been called “The Battering Ram” when playing for Los Angeles and St. Louis, and later as “The Closer” to close out games by running out the clock with first downs, the former Fighting Irish running back reportedly got his nickname “The Bus” while at Notre Dame. As the story goes, someone (possibly the brother of a ND alum) saw Bettis in a hotel lobby and yelled out “Bussie”. ND radio broadcaster Myron Cope heard this and ran with it. The name refers to Jerome’s ability to carry tacklers on his back and take them for a ride. The 6-time Pro Bowler and 2-time First-Team All-Pro is sixth on the NFL’s all-time rushing leader list.
#7. “Ironhead” Craig Heyward
Word is Heyward got his nickname in high school because he wore a fitted cap that was size 8 and ¾ while the New York Times wrote in Craig’s obituary that he earned the epithet came from “He would lower his head into tacklers’ stomachs, and one opponent said it hurt so much that Heyward’s head had to be made of iron.” The former first round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints was one-time Pro Bowler with the Atlanta Falcons and was in the top 10 league-wide in rushing yards per attempt three years (1990, 1994, 1995).
#6. “The Human Joystick” aka “X-Factor” Dante Hall
The Kansas City Chiefs return-man and wide receiver was selected in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft and would go on to become KC’s franchise leader in career kick return yards, kick return touchdowns, punt return touchdowns, and all-purpose yards.
According to the return specialist’s book Dante Hall: X-Factor, the “X-Factor” nickname came because Dante and Eddie Kennison played the X-position (instead of Y or Z) and Hall felt he was “the key ingredient to a win that might sneak up on you”. “Human Joystick” came from Dante’s moves, which didn’t seem real, but straight out of a Madden video game. Hall’s fifth on the kick return yards leaderboard, and tied for 3rd most kick return touchdowns.
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