Blogging The Boys
Spelling player names correctly may not be as easy as it seems.
You may have missed the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Friday, which a 13-year old boy from Texas won for spelling “éclaircissement.” Not to worry though, ESPN (“The Worldwide Leader in Sports”) has you covered:
In a roundabout way, and because we are in the depths of the offseason where a little fun never hurt anyone, that got me thinking about our Dallas Cowboys and some of the most misspelled player names from the past. Michael Irvin or Irving? And was it Emmitt or Emmit? What about the great Columbo, or was it Colombo? Remember Terrance/Terrence/Terence Williams? And why did some folks feel the need to spell Jason Witten “Whitten”?
All of these were common misspellings you’d come across on message boards and blogs like ours in the past, and more recently social social media has carried on and amplified that proud tradition.
But these misspellings are not just the the forte of fan conversations, even the Cowboys’ own equipment staff once misspelled a name on a jersey, swapping the “C” and “S” in “Esch” on Leighton Vander Esch’s jersey.
On to the 2025 team. Here are nine names that might prove a challenge in a Cowboys Spelling Bee:
His Nigerian surname presents challenges with its multiple syllables and consonant clusters, which is why he is often referred to by “Osa” and is the occasional target of unimaginative and overused “no diggity”/”o diggity” jokes.
The unconventional spelling of “Markquese” has conscientious fans always looking up the spelling before using his name online.
The capital “R” in “DaRon” is often overlooked, leading to incorrect spellings like “Daron.”
Another Nigerian surname that could be prone to misspellings due to its length and complexity - especially if the rookie garners any playing time.
Few people know he is even on the roster (Barcoo was a reserve/future signing in January), fewer people know how to pronounce his name. And the unique spelling of “Luq” (apparently pronounced “Luke”) may lead to issues, and the surname may prove a challenge as well, depending on how you pronounce it.
While “Micah” is a biblical name, not everybody can quote chapter and verse, so you’ll see the occasional “Micha” or “Mika.”
The capitalization in his first name is an issue he shares with Bland, but both his first and last names are uncommon, which could result in frequent misspellings.
His Samoan surname could be challenging due to its unfamiliar phonetics and spelling.
Already going by “Easy” because there are “too many ‘Donovan’s’ around here,” his is the third Nigerian surname on the list and perhaps the most difficult to spell.
Mark Twain allegedly once said, “I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.” And while he may not have...
