Athletes' Nicknames Trivia Quiz

Answer: Derek Jeter

One of my favorite athletes of all time is Derek Jeter, not because he is the anti-Alex Rodriguez, but because his play and his sportsmanship are an example for everyone to follow. He played for 20 years for the New York Yankees and was nicknamed "Captain Clutch"; after 9/11, World Series play was delayed until November, giving Jeter yet another nickname. Reggie Jackson was called "Mr. October" because of his successful hitting in World Series games played in October. Lou Gehrig was dubbed "The Iron Horse" before he was ironically stopped by ALS. Willie Mays was "The Say Hey Kid".

Answer: Charlie Hustle

Pete Rose was a former professional baseball player, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds. He played from 1963 to 1986, and was a manager from 1984 to 1989. He was called "Charlie Hustle" because he didn't let anyone or anything stand in the way of his winning, including some very nasty slides into second base to break up double plays.

He was removed from baseball after it was discovered he put bets down on the games. He won three World Series, three batting titles, one MVP award, two Gold Gloves, Rookie of the Year and made 17 All-Star appearances. "Big Papi" is David Ortiz (Boston); "The Big Hurt" is Frank Thomas (White Sox); "Georgia Peach" was Ty Cobb (Detroit).

Answer: Randy Johnson

"The Big Unit" was the epithet given to left-handed pitcher Randy Johnson who played for 6 teams from 1988-2009, primarily with the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. Johnson was 6 feet 10 inches tall, which could explain the nickname. His strikeout record (4,875) put him in second place behind Nolan Ryan.

As for the other choices, Ryan ("The Ryan Express") played with the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, etc; Tom Seaver ("Tom Terrific") pitched for the Mets, etc; Greg Maddux ("Mad Dog") played for the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs, etc.

Answer: The Mailman

Karl Malone played a power forward for the Utah Jazz for his first 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (1984-2003). Malone and John Stockton made a formidable pair, and Karl was a two time MVP with 14 appearances in the NBA All-Star games. Why "The Mailman"? Because the "mailman always delivers"! He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice in 2010, once for his individual career and the other as a member of the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic basketball team.

As for the other nicknames: "The Answer" was Allen Iverson; "The Stilt" was Wilt Chamberlain and "The Pearl" was Earl Monroe.

Answer: Robert Parish

For this one, we have to go back in time a few years to when Robert Parish played center for the Boston Celtics from 1980 to 1994, when he wore the number 00. A Boston teammate gave Parish the nickname "The Chief" after a character in Ken Kesey's book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; the fictitious Chief Bromden was a silent, giant Native American who narrated the story. Due to his height (seven feet), his quiet disposition and his 'unflappableness', Robert Parish became known as "The Chief". The other nicknames include: Pete Maravich as "Pistol Pete", LeBron James as "King James" and Dwight Howard as "Superman".

Answer: Dennis Rodman

One of the oddest nicknames was "The Worm" for Dennis Rodman, one of the oddest basketball players. The sobriquet was actually given to Rodman in his youth by his mother because he used to wiggle around when he played pinball. One of the best defensive players, Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.

He was also known for his off-court antics, e.g., green hair, cross-dressing and briefly marrying Carmen Electra. The wrong choices are defensive stand-outs: Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, for whom "The Russell Era" was named; Walt 'Clyde' Frazier of the Knicks, and Hakeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon from Houston.

Answer: Jerry Rice

Aside from being a nickname for street basketball player Earl Manigault, the acronym G.O.A.T. stood for "The "Greatest Of All Time", and that label has often been conferred upon Jerry Rice, a wide receiver who played for 20 seasons in the National Football League. Most of Rice's career was spent with the San Francisco 49ers (1985-2000).

He was selected to the Pro-Bowl 13 times and All-Pro 12 times. On November 4, 2010, NFL Networks NFL films released a list of the 100 greatest NFL players of all time, and Jerry Rice was #1. Unitas was "The Golden Arm" (Colts); there was Jim 'First Down' Brown (Browns) and Joe Montana labeled "The Comeback Kid" (San Francisco and K.C.).

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

Terry Bradshaw was the first player drafted in the NFL draft of 1970, and he quarterbacked The Pittsburgh Steelers to eight AFC Central titles and four Super Bowl titles in six years. Much of the team's success came on the defensive side, which earned the nickname "The Steel Curtain". "The Steel Curtain" consisted of 'Mean Joe' Greene (famous for an old Coke commercial), L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White. Other notable defensive teams:
Miami's 'Killer Bees' (1982), Minnesota Vikings 'Purple People Eaters' (1968-1971) and the Denver Broncos 'Orange Crush' (1976-1982).

Answer: Gordie Howe

And before you send me a correction notice, I know that Gordie Howe was born in Canada but, beginning in 1946, his first 25 seasons in Professional Hockey were spent with the Detroit Red Wings - that's about as American as you can get! Howe played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League and six seasons in the World Hockey Association and established a record for most games played.

He ranked among the top ten in scoring for 21 consecutive years! He was an NHL All-Star 23 times and set many scoring records, some of which were broken in the 1990s by Wayne 'The Great' Gretzkey. Bobby Hull was called "The Golden Jet" and Mark Messier was named "Mr. June".

Answer: Hulk Hogan

You may be unfamiliar with the name Terry Bollea, but I'm sure most of you have heard of the professional wrestler, actor and TV personality Hulk Hogan. In the 1980s and 1990s Hogan was 'the good guy' in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), and later went on to play 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan, the villain in World Championship Wrestling.

He is a 12 time World Champion, but in July 2015 he was fired and blacklisted by the WWE for allegedly making scandalous remarks in 2007. Nicknames for the other choices: Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Randy 'Macho Man' Savage.