By Russell Anderson, Assistant Commissioner
According to the latest U.S. Census, I have the 10th-most common last name in America. While not as popular as Smith, Johnson or Williams (the top three), Anderson is said to be the surname of about 857,000 Americans. Well this blog deals with un-common names...the 22 best names in Conference USA Football this season.
Where was the Genesis (Cole) of this concept? If you're a follower of the annual C-USA Baseball Championship blog (and why wouldn't you be?), you know about our annual C-USA Baseball All-Name team. We've taken that concept to the gridiron with this inaugural unveiling of the C-USA Football all-name team. This 22-member squad (matching the number of players on a football field at one time) features the most unique, fun and coolest sounding names in the league and has at least one representative from each school.
In looking at the squad you will think about movies (Rio, Tron), you will think about music (Banjo, Jazz, Hummingbird), travel may be on your mind (Rio again, Cairo, Dakota), TV shows may even come into play (Arsenio, Law). You might even get a little Rowdy (Harper) and need to calm down with a nice glass of (Corey) Redwine, but most of all we hope you enjoy the list.
Rio Johnson, QB, East Carolina
Chevy Bennett, DB, Houston
Rowdy Harper, OL, Houston
Cotton Turner, QB, Houston
Tron Martinez, RB, Marshall
Jazz King, WR, Marshall
Gator Hoskins, TE, Marshall
Skylar Jones, QB, Memphis
Blayze Jones, DB, Memphis
Tanner Shuck, LB, Rice
Chris Banjo, DB, SMU
Arsenio Favor, QB, Southern Miss
Cordarro Law, DE, Southern Miss
Furious Bradley, DB, Southern Miss
Orleans Darkwa, RB, Tulane
Corey Redwine, DL, Tulane
Cairo Santos, K, Tulane
Genesis Cole, WR, Tulsa
Chris Hummingbird, LB, Tulsa
Jamarious Crusoe, CB, UAB
Jose Jose, DL, UCF
Dakota Warren, K, UTEP
Now that you've looked at the list, we are ready to hand out a couple of awards.
First, for the best-first named trio on one team, we have a tie. Houston's triple play combo of Chevy, Rowdy and Cotton share this distinction with Marshall's Tron, Jazz and Gator.
Individually, we have a three-way tie in the category for best overall name. Houston's Cotton Turner, Marshall's Jazz King and UCF's Jose Jose (the name so nice they named him twice).
Be sure and listen for the PA announcer call these names when you are at a C-USA stadium the rest of the season or hear one of the play-by-play announcers name them on television when you're watching at home. You'll know that they are among the most special names in Conference USA.
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