The box arrived weeks after the ceremony. Inside sat a trophy meant to live on a mantle for decades, the physical proof that Jaxon Smith-Njigba had just finished the most dominant offensive season in Seattle Seahawks history. He pulled it out, turned it over, and read the engraving. Then he grabbed his phone. The 1,793-yard, 119-catch, 10-touchdown campaign that led the entire NFL in receiving deserved permanence in metal. What he got instead sent him straight to Instagram.
A Season Nobody Could Ignore
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) and Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Chris Olave (2) congratulate Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (12) after a long run during the third quarter of a NCAA Division I football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Akron Zips on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Smith-Njigba didn’t just lead the league in receiving yards. He delivered one of the most consistent receiving seasons the NFL has seen in years, racking up 75-plus receiving yards in game after game to open the year. That kind of consistency doesn’t happen by accident. It rewrote franchise records, including the Seahawks’ single-season marks for receptions and yardage. The AP voted him Offensive Player of the Year, and the award was presented at NFL Honors in February 2026. That ceremony produced the first crack.
The Name They Couldn’t Say
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) catches a pass behind safety Lathan Ransom (12) during football training camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021.
Druski mispronounced Smith-Njigba’s last name on live television in a way multiple outlets and viewers described as deeply uncomfortable, sparking immediate backlash on social media. Fans assumed the league would course-correct from there, that someone in the building would ensure the rest of the process honored the man properly. Most people believe a multibillion-dollar operation double-checks the details after a public embarrassment. That belief was about to die.
“Defensive Player of Theyear”
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba celebrate following their win over Utah in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Smith-Njigba’s Instagram video showed the engraving beneath his name, which read to him as: “AP 2025 Defensive Player of Theyear” — with “The” and “Year” fused into one word. The league later said the actual misspelling was “Oefensive,” not “Defensive,” due to a font issue, but as Smith-Njigba and most viewers read it, the trophy honoring the league’s best offensive player called him a defender. “I really want to expose them,” he said. “It’s getting disrespectful, guys.” Two blunders surrounded the same award: his name mangled on stage, then his position erased in metal. Nobody at the NFL caught either issue before the damage was done.
The System Behind the Sloppiness
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) breaks a tackle attemped by Nebraska Cornhuskers safety Myles Farmer (4) during Saturday’s NCAA Division I football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., on November 6, 2021.
Here’s what most fans don’t realize: the Associated Press runs the voting, but the NFL produces the trophies. That split means each side can point at the other when something breaks. ProFootballTalk reported the engraving mistake came from the league’s side or the engraver it hired, and that nobody in the NFL’s chain of custody caught the error before shipping. Think about that. A league that reviews plays frame by frame, that fines players for untucked jerseys, shipped the wrong wording to its offensive MVP without a single person reading the inscription first.
The Numbers That Make It Sting
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) hands a glove to a fan following the Buckeyes’ 56-7 victory against the Michigan State Spartans in a NCAA Division I football game at Ohio Stadium.
Smith-Njigba averaged approximately 105.5 receiving yards per game across 17 regular-season contests. He caught 119 passes for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns at roughly 15.1 yards per catch. Those numbers topped Seahawks franchise marks for a single season. The contrast is almost painful: that level of precision on the field, rewarded by a trophy that couldn’t even get the right side of the ball.
The Apology That Said Too Much
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba talks to Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline prior to the NCAA football game against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle on Sept. 27, 2025.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy responded fast. “The league made the mistake. We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy.” Then came the line that told the whole story: “We just had a problem spelling it.” That quote was supposed to defuse the situation. Instead it crystallized exactly what went wrong. The league reduced a pattern of disrespect to a spelling issue. Local Seahawks media framed it as the latest in a longer pattern of the franchise’s stars feeling overlooked nationally.
The Precedent He Set
Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a school-record 15 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown against Nebraska.
Smith-Njigba indicated the NFL could keep the wrong trophy, but he expected a correct one. That response matters more than it looks. A generation of players now treats social media as a direct accountability channel. No agent call. No private letter. One Instagram story forced a league apology within hours. Once you see that the same institution demanding perfection from athletes shrugs at being approximate with their names and honors, the “typo” stops looking like a mistake and starts looking like a priority list.
Who Gets Embarrassed Next
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) can’t make the completion under pressure from Rutgers Scarlet Knights defensive back Avery Young (2) during the third quarter of a NCAA Division I football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
The Honors broadcast already drew criticism for the on-stage mispronunciation, suggesting the preparation issues ran deeper than the engraver’s desk. If the league doesn’t tighten its process, the next casualty could be another name butchered on a global broadcast, deepening the perception that the NFL treats ceremonial respect as an afterthought. Players’ unions and advocacy groups could start asking harder questions about cultural competence at the league-office level. Smith-Njigba’s callout opened a door that won’t close easily.
The Trophy They Can’t Take Back
Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) will get a long look from coaches as the team’s primary slot receiver after Garrett Wilson was moved to a role as an outside receiver.
The NFL can ship a corrected trophy. It cannot un-ship the original. That misengraved piece of metal is now one of the most talked-about award blunders in recent league memory, and Smith-Njigba owns the footage. The league sells a product built on precision, replay review, and accountability down to the inch. Now every future award recipient will check the engraving before putting it on the shelf. That’s the real shift: players no longer trust the institution to get the basics right when the cameras stop rolling. Would you keep the misengraved trophy as a collector’s item, or demand the NFL take it back? Tell us how you’d handle it in the comments.
