Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s Offensive Player of the Year honour has taken an unexpected turn because of the trophy itself.
The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver showed on Instagram that the award did not match the achievement he had won.
Instead of correctly reading Offensive Player of the Year, Smith-Njigba claimed the trophy incorrectly says “Defensive Player of Theyear”.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba calls trophy mistake disrespectful
While showing the trophy on Instagram, the 24-year-old stated (via Fox News): “I really want to expose them. It’s getting disrespectful, guys.
“Defense? Come on bro. One word? Man.”
The second issue was spacing. The words “the” and “year” were joined together, making the engraving read “Theyear”.
The mistake stood out because Smith-Njigba won the award after a huge offensive season. He led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards.
He also had 119 receptions and 10 touchdowns, helping Seattle win the Super Bowl and completing one of the league’s biggest breakout campaigns.
According to The Athletic, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy issued apologies and said the league is already preparing a corrected trophy.
Smith-Njigba beat a strong field to win the award, finishing ahead of stars such as Christian McCaffrey, Puka Nacua, Bijan Robinson and Drake Maye in the voting.
