College football signing day’s best names of 2023
It’s early February, which means football fans around the world are all talking about the biggest day in sport. The Super what? No, silly, I’m talking about National Dedication Day, where high school athletes sign letters of intent to play college football.
It’s a glorious day when your rival school signs a bunch of undersized bums, your school signs its best recruiting class (it doesn’t matter, they all transfer next year) and the top 100 all get together in a way. or another in the SEC. But more important than all that, we get to know some of the newest top names in the sport. Here are some of my favorites from the Class of 2023.
Aitor Jr Urionabarrenechea, OT, Colorado State
Okay, right off the bat, Aitor technically signed early with the Jay Norvell Rams, but I like a long name where they have to make the letters lowercase and extend them all the way to the shoulders. I’ve done next to no research, but I think Urionabarrenechea will have one of the longest unhyphenated names in college football come August. Big fan.
Houston Hendrix, DB, Air Force
Just an incredibly cool name, dripping with confidence. I can practically see Jimi Hendrix on a rocket, intercepting a Fresno State slope and taking it home. Imagine Gus Johnson shouting “Houston Hendrix!” It makes sense.
Rocky Shields, DT, WA
A real quick shout out to my beloved Cougs, who signed this Colorado defensive lineman named Rocky Shields. If football doesn’t work out, he already has a perfect adult movie star name.
Walteze Field, DE, South Texas
First thing: what do they feed the kids these days oh my god. Second: If you Google “Walteze” Mr. Champ and his highlights are the only result. It’s just a good referral by his parents. I respect wise planning like that.
Jax Leatherwood, QC, Nevada
Nevada’s new quarterback Jax Leatherwood is already getting praise.
“I trained a guy in Oregon named Justin Herbert. I’m not saying Jax is Justin Herbert, but we see a lot of the same tools that I saw in Justin when he was in high school.” https://t.co/9e9UyPiWCY
— Chris Murray (@ByChrisMurray) December 22, 2022
There has never been and there will never be a more Mountain West quarterback name in football history. Jax Leatherwood. I wish you all the success in the world, but you’re named as the bully in a Disney Channel original movie.
Blesyng Alualu-Tuiolemotu, LB, UNLV
People love to make jokes about eccentrically spelled names, but I’m here to tell you that they dominate. I love them. Blessing is a great name. Blesyng is a FANTASTIC name. He’s a dragon from Skyrim.
Say Wade, DE, Wyoming
Big fan of nouns that work like sentences. Come on, tell Wade. Tell him.
Cash Turner, QB, South Alabama
I really hope this kid’s career pans out because the Pusha T lines referencing this name would be flawless.
Rod Orr, occupational therapist, Toledo
Mr. Orr was technically a signed transfer from Florida State, but I’m including him because we don’t have enough guys named Rod playing football anymore. We gotta do something about it, it’s a great old man’s name. And on the other hand from our friend Aitor Urionabarrenechea above, there’s something so chill about a six-letter name.
Kivon “Cheese” Wright, EDGE, Boise State
We’ve had a lot of nicknames as first names lately. From Kool-Aid McKinstry to Sauce Gardner, it’s becoming a thing not only because it’s great fun, but I have to assume it helps tremendously with NIL deals. Which is why I’m shocked Cheese ended up in Idaho. Wisconsin completely dropped the ball on this recruiting.