Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba took home a big award at Friday night’s NFL Honors, though the presentation was marred by an attempted joke that definitely did not land.
NFL legend Barry Sanders and comedian Drew Desbordes, known professionally as Druski, presented the award for 2026 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Druski was given the opportunity to announce Njigba as the winner, but decided to purposefully mispronounce his last name, turning it into something that resembled the N-word.
Druski mispronounced Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s name on purpose, right?
This was worse than Mike Verbal pic.twitter.com/ZBBMDDHscP
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) February 6, 2026
If he was hoping it would go viral, he got what he wanted. However, Druski’s effort to make the moment about himself rather than JSN caught the Seahawks’ attention as well.
Hall of Famer Barry Sanders drew the short straw getting stuck with @druski’s big whiff tonight. Put some respect on @Seahawks WR @jaxon_smith1’s name. https://t.co/tCe2afCcv9
— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) February 6, 2026
“Hall of Famer Barry Sanders drew the short straw getting stuck with [Druski’s] big whiff tonight,” wrote the Seahawks PR X account. “Put some respect on [Seahawks] WR [Jaxon Smith-Njigba]’s name.”
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu wasn’t much of a fan of the bit either.
Druski lame
— Uchenna Nwosu (@UchennaN_42) February 6, 2026
Seahawks Game Day Host Gee Scott, Jr., also wasn’t impressed.
Hey @NFL, you better NEVER have @druski present an award ever again. That’s that young man’s name! YOU NEVER PLAY WITH SOMEONE’S NAME! Especially in a moment like that. Hey Druski, you got ya bread, but hope you learn from this.
— Gee Scott Sr. 🎙️ (@GeeScottSr) February 6, 2026
The bit is reminiscent of Desmond Howard starting the chant “Big Penix Energy” in reference to then-Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. Those kinds of things never land as well in reality as they did in one’s head.
The only thing impressive about Druski’s mispronunciation is that it displaced “Mike Verbal” as the worst one of the evening.
