The Tampa Bay Buccaneers now have two Shaqs on their roster after they acquired offensive lineman Shaq Mason in a trade with the New England Patriots, but that barely scratches the surface of what Mason and Shaq Barrett share in common when it comes to their names.
Mason’s full name is Shaquille Olajuwon Mason. Barrett’s is Shaquil Akeem Barrett. The first names are spelled differently, but Greg Auman of The Athletic noted on Thursday that both were named after Shaquille O’Neal. Wait, there’s more. Their middle names were both inspired by Hakeem Olajuwon.
What are the odds? There are plenty of people in the world named after O’Neal and Olajuwon. The fact that two NFL players who were named after both have now wound up on the same team is probably a once-in-a-million-lifetimes coincidence.
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