Jaxon Smith-Njigba's brother calls out NFL after award gaffe

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Jaxon Smith-Njigba's brother calls out NFL after award gaffe

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Matt Wadleigh | Last updated May 19, 2026 6:11 PM ET

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has had a great few months.

He won the Super Bowl, won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, and landed a new four-year contract extension worth $168.6 million.

However, when Smith-Njigba received his Offensive Player of the Year trophy, there was a mistake. The trophy read, “Defensive Player of the Year.”

While Smith-Njigba posted that it is “getting disrespectful”, his brother, Canaan, also called out the NFL in a lengthy post on X.

The NFL quickly collected a fine for the dunk celebration, then used those same images for promotion.
The Offensive Player of the Year was turned into a comedy segment with Druski, minimizing an award earned through elite performance and hard work.
NFL Honors never acknowledged…
— Canaan Smith-Njigba (@CanaanSmith_) May 19, 2026

Canaan was drafted by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB Draft, and he made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates before bouncing around a bit. He also landed with the Seattle Mariners in 2024, but he didn’t get called up to the majors.

So, Canaan knows a thing or two about professional sports, and he isn’t too pleased with the NFL’s lack of quality checks on the trophy.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a monster regular season, recording 1,793 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 119 catches. That earned him the new contract, which in turn made him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history.

Still, the NFL messed up his award, and now the league will have to correct it.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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