Oct. 17, 2003

Charleston, SC - At football practice, hanging around the players or sometimes in a press conference, one may hear reference made to a football player you've never heard or, or can't quite identify. That's because the Citadel's football team has a number of players who have other names that they're "also known as."

Mighty Mouse, Tike and Booyow are just a few. There's so many of them it's hard to keep track of who's who, but ask any football player and they'll spit the list right out.

"Elvis, that's actually my middle name," said freshman outside linebacker James Wilson, more often referred to as Elvis. Wilson said if he's not being called Elvis, his nickname is Muscle. Why? "Look at him. His physique," said sophomore defensive back Shawn Grant. "When you're playing around and stuff, he's always throwing people around. He's only got like two percent body fat."

Grant said he's often referred to as Mighty Mouse. "I think I inherited that name last year. It came from me being short," said Grant, though he doesn't consider himself short at all. "I think it's because I would do things you wouldn't think I would do (because of my size)."

There are also players known as Beast, Tattoo and Easy Reiter.

Beast is senior defensive back T.J. Rose. When asked where Beast came from, Grant said, "Just look at him on the field. He plays with a reckless abandon. He's probably the strongest person on the team."

Tattoo is junior running back Chris Gibbs. His name is self-explanatory. According to Grant and Wilson, Gibbs has tattoos everywhere. We won't ask.

Easy Reiter is freshman quarterback James Reiter. He earned his name because of his laid-back nature.

One of the more difficult names for the football players to explain is Booyow, sophomore fullback Porter Johnson. This name may have more than one meaning, but most importantly, it describes the powerful hits and blocks he makes, such as the one against Appalachian State that caused a fumble that resulted in a two-point conversion. "Booyow!"

Then there's Nemo Sapien, junior running back Nehemiah Broughton. "He's like his own being," Wilson said. "He's like a monster on the field. You've got human, homo sapien, and then you've got Nemo Sapien."

So where do these names come from? According to Grant, "They come from everywhere." Most come from TV shows and crack sessions, when everyone sits around and makes jokes on each other, Grant said. That's how they have fun in such a strict military environment. "That's the beauty of it."

Football player nicknames is nothing new to Citadel football, though. Hall of Famers Henry Kennedy and Lyvonia Mitchell both were referred to in their day as Stump, obviously because of their stature. And Hall of Famer boxer and football player F.W. Ohlandt was nicknamed Gunner.

And this year's squad obviously has a lot more nicknames that were not disclosed. "You just give me a roster and I can go down the list," assistant football coach Maurice Drayton said. It's suspected that 2003 football player names such as Tike, junior linebacker James Greene, Juice, junior linebacker Julian West, and Scooter, senior wide receiver Alvin Johnson, are all childhood nicknames.