The 2017 NFL Pro Bowl kicks off on Sunday. There might not be any “Honey Badgers” or members of the “Legion of Boom”, but there’s a “Red Rocket”—Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

The game of football has a long and colorful history. The game has been played by characters at every level. It is these characters that have told the story of professional football. Many great characters throughout history have been known by aliases, pseudonyms, and nicknames. Often, the story of the nickname has become as legendary as the player.

“A great nickname is one that not only is identified with that player, but also, ultimately, becomes that player's persona,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame archivist Jon Kendle. “From the Hall of Fame's perspective, names like 'Prime Time' have stuck with Deion Sanders all through his career and now in his life out of football. 'Papa Bear' George Halas really epitomizes who he was and what he did for the Chicago Bears. For this year's class of 2016, I don't think it gets any better than ‘The Snake’ Ken Stabler. It really fits how elusive and fun he was as a player.”

Great nicknames go hand in hand with great players. In the digital era, truly great nicknames are fewer and farther between than ever. With that in mind, to kickoff the new season, we take a look back at some of the NFL's all-time greatest nicknames.

Honorable Mention: Calvin “Megatron” Johnson

The holder of the Detroit Lions franchise records for touchdowns in a season and career, receptions in a game, season, and career, and receiving yards all time, the recently retired Calvin Johnson was truly a man among men for his entire career. He was given the nickname “Megatron” by fellow Lions receiver Roy Williams, the moniker fit Johnson's dominant abilities perfectly.

5. “The Bus” Jerome Bettis

When it comes to nicknames, few fit better than the NFL's sixth all-time leading rusher Jerome Bettis. An incredible blend of power and speed, the man they called “The Bus” was capable of running around, past, and through defenders at every level of the defense. Legendary Pittsburgh radio commentator Myron Cope popularized the nickname after hearing a brother of a fellow Notre Dame alumni call Bettis “Bussy.”

4. “The Minister of Defense” Reggie White

Selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, the 1990s All-Decade Team, and the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, Reggie White was a juggernaut on the defensive line. First starring for the Memphis Showboats of the defunct USFL, White was the keystone of the great Philadelphia Eagles defenses of the 1980s. He earned a Super Bowl ring with Green Bay before calling it a career after a brief stop with the Carolina Panthers. He was an ordained Evangelical minister, which lead. to his nickname

3. “Sweetness” Walter Payton

When he retired in 1987, Walter Payton was the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards and all-purpose yards. As a runner, he was powerful, graceful, and the personification of athletic elegance. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL named its annual Man of the Year Award and it is given annually to honor the recipient's volunteer and charity work, as well as his excellence on the field. He earned his nickname in college; it was said to be sarcastically as a play on his aggressive running style.

2. “Broadway” Joe Namath

If ever a man was born to play under the bright lights of New York City, it was one Joe Willie Namath. Despite being hampered through much of his career nagging injuries, Namath is credited as the author of arguably the greatest upset in pro football history when he led his Jets to victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. A victory he guaranteed. He was gifted the nickname by his offensive tackle, Sherman Plunkett, after seeing Namath in Sports Illustrated.

1. “Mean” Joe Greene

Born Charles Edward Greene in Elgin, Texas, the man known as “Mean” Joe Greene was a four-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The anchor of what is considered by many to be the greatest defense of all time, Pittsburgh's famed “Steel Curtain,” Greene epitomized toughness from the defensive tackle position. His nickname, while ultimately fitting (one pro scout labeled him as “tough and mean and comes to hit people”), it is attributed playing for the then  North Texas State University (now University of North Texas in Denton) Mean Green.

 

Photo courtesy of NFL.com