The Most Undeserved Sports Nicknames

Chauncey Billups, “Mr. Big Shot” – Can you think of one big shot Chauncey Billups ever hit in his career? I sure can’t. I know that he did pretty well during the Pistons title run and other trip to the NBA Finals but nothing to warrant the name “Mr. Big Shot.” Most of the time I spent watching Chauncey Billups he’d jack up stupid shots at the end of games and actually hurt his team.

Isn’t this kind of an insult to “Big Shot Bob” Horry? Horry made a career of being pretty bad at basketball but inexplicably hitting big shot after big shot on multiple playoff runs. Not only is Big Shot Bob a better nickname it actually makes sense as opposed to “Mr. Big Shot” Chauncey Billups.

Stephen Baker, “The Touchdown Maker” – One of my favorite New York Giants of all time is Stephen Baker. What an awesome nick name Stephen Baker, ”The Touchdown Maker” is, but what a disappointing career he had. Baker only “made” 21 touchdowns his entire career and only played for 6 seasons. He received in the nickname in 1990 when he caught passes from the unlikely Super Bowl Champion Jeff Hostetler. To Bakers defense, the NFL wasn’t the pass happy league it is today and the Giants didn’t like to pass very often.

NY Daily News

An iconic image from my childhood of Stephen Baker making a touchdown.

James Shields, “Big Game James” – For a pitcher who’s pitched in a shockingly few number of big games, it’s confusing to why Tampa Bay Rays pitcher James Shields developed this nick name. He has pitched in 6 postseason games in his entire career and has posted a 4.98 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Not exactly what I’d call rising to the moment.

I understand that isn’t exactly a fair sample size and that he did have a pretty good run in 2008, but how can a pitcher who’s pitched in only a relatively few big games in his career earn this title? It’s baffling.

Steve Francis/Mark Sanchez, “Franchise and Sanchize” – I had to lump these two together because neither of them deserve their “franchise” titles. Sanchize also sounds like some kind of weird sex act, so there’s also that. Anyway, Stevie Francis had a few productive seasons yet never really found a position in the NBA despite his “Franchise” label. He wasn’t really a point guard and proved he did not have the height to play shooting guard throughout his career. He definitely did not have a “Franchise” caliber career.

Mark Sanchez has also completely failed to live up to his “Sanchize” nickname. He struggled at pretty much every aspect of playing quarterback last year and unless he turns things around quick, it seems very unlikely he lives up to his nickname’s high hopes. His career 73.2 QB Rating – 6.51 average yards per attempt – 55.3 competition % - and 51 interceptions over three seasons are just ugly numbers.

Eddy Curry, “Baby Shaq” – They should’ve properly nicknamed Eddy Curry, “Hungry Shaq,” because the only thing he ever resembled O’Neal with is his weight. Curry still hangs around the NBA and actually won the title with the Heat last year after getting a stupid contract from the Knicks that he never lived up to. Curry’s work ethic is notoriously bad and he’s been out of shape basically his entire career.

Google Images

Eddy Curry working out before the season.

It’s really a shame too because Eddy Curry had a great offensive game. In his one full season with the Knicks he ate his way to 19.5 points a game while playing absolutely no defense and only collecting 7 boards a game. For a 7 footer these were unacceptable and Curry has never played in a full season again.

Joey Harrington, Joey “Heisman” Harrington – Despite never winning the Heisman, Joey Harrington earned this nickname. It was famously put on a billboard in Time Square by Oregon when they thought Harrington’s chances for the Heisman were all but certain. He ended up finishing 4^th that year, woops.

Google Images

Joey "Heisman" billboard in New York.

Harrington went on to have one of the most disappointing NFL careers of all time and certainly never lived up to that nickname. He was taken third overall by the Lions in 2002 and was out of the NFL by 2008 with a career passer rating of 69.4. Doesn’t get much worse than that.

If you're reading this and can think of any other undeserved sports nicknames, throw it in the comments section or contact me and I'll add it to this list.