NFL's apology to Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 'disrespectful' mishap falls short

NFL apologizes for typo

"The league made the mistake. We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement (h/t The Athletic's Jayna Bardahl). "Of course, like the teams he played against this year, we know how great an offensive player he is. We just had a problem spelling it." 

That apology doesn't make things any better. Smith-Njigba's brother, Canaan, may not accept it. 

He ripped the league for the mistake on X and for comedian Druski's mispronunciation of his brother's last name during the NFL Honors Show before Super Bowl LX in February.

"The Offensive Player of the Year was turned into a comedy segment with Druski, minimizing an award earned through elite performance and hard work," he wrote. "NFL Honors never acknowledged the poor representation of one of the league's top individual awards. The 'prestigious' ceremony didn't even air the pre-recorded acceptance speech.

"After months to prepare and ship the award, the only offensive player selected received a Defensive Player of the Year trophy. At some point, professionalism, respect and attention to detail should matter."

In this case, the NFL failed to demonstrate all three. The Druski incident was humiliating, and so is botching the award spelling. The league had months to prepare and still couldn't get it right. 

The NFL's apology may not be considered contrite, either. It almost reads like a "whoops, our bad" rather than a more formal apology.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba may have to win OPOY again in 2026 to begin receiving the respect he deserves. He certainly could after leading the league in receiving yards (1,793 in 17 games) and helping the Seahawks win their second Super Bowl in 2025. 

If he does, the NFL better make sure everything on his trophy is perfect. One mistake was one too many.