Sports has a way of transcending racial, socioeconomic, cultural, and lifestyle boundaries like nothing else and can create a national talking point of relatability. Then there’s the uncomfortable parts, like when a high school linebacker announces he is taking a visit to West Virginia University, and because of his name, trepidation about a future announcing him as a player is universal.
Enter Noah Knigga (pronounced KUH-nigga), who, as you can suspect, is a victim of his own making unwittingly. On Thursday morning, the outside linebacker posted on X (formerly Twitter) about his upcoming visit to West Virginia University.
P.S. his X handle is actually @KniggaNoah which is not funny but even more disturbing when you can’t police in what order he displays his real name.
“I’ll be taking a visit to West Virginia on January 14th! Excited for the great opportunity,” he posted.
It didn’t take long for former NFL player college pundits to weigh in on what could be an interesting debacle. Noah might be the first rising college player whose entire broadcasted career will consist of his first name only to avoid the cultural and racially charged politics.
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III went straight patois on an ‘X’ post he shared where a Caribbean man says, “yoooo you cannot trick me.” Griffin captioned the post, with “That Naysayer built the arc,” throwing it back to the recent viral “College GameDay” moment where Pat McAfee stopped co-host Rece Davis when he was explaining Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe’s brand “LANK,” the acronym for, “Let a Naysayer Know.”
Then McAfee had major fun with Noah’s arrival into the media spectrum dedicating a segment to describing how awkward the young player’s arrival could be if he becomes successful. In fact, he already planned out his methodology for saying his full name and its to give him the Polynesian long first name treatment.
“Gotta say (his) name real quick … first name, last name just kinda put it all in one,” said McAfee.
“Thanks for the segment today @PatMcAfeeShow! The fun is just beginning, Noah Knaysayer!”
Noah played for Lawrenceburg High School in Southern Indiana and was chosen as one of the 2023 All-State Top 22 Underclassmen. His father, Ryan, is Lawrenceburg’s athletic director and head football coach. The two are undoubtedly soaking in all of these good and extremely awkward problems.
