Jaxon Smith-Njigba Calls NFL ‘Disrespectful’ After Trophy Mislabeled as Defensive Player of the Year
The NFL had one job. Engrave the words “Offensive Player of the Year” on Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s trophy. They could not do it. They put “Defensive Player Of The Year” on the plaque instead.
Smith-Njigba, the reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year and the Seattle Seahawks’ top wideout, posted a video showing his trophy to social media. The plaque clearly reads “2025 Defensive Player Of The Year.” His response was short and pointed: “It’s getting disrespectful at this point.”
He also noticed a smaller typo where there was no space between “The” and “Year” on the engraving. So not only did the NFL get the entire award wrong, they could not even space the wrong words correctly.
This is the second time the NFL has botched the Smith-Njigba experience in a few months. At the February NFL Honors event, comedian Druski announced his award and mispronounced his name multiple times on a national broadcast. So now you have two separate incidents where the league fumbled the recognition of one of its best young players.
An NFL spokesman acknowledged the mistake and apologized publicly. “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.” That is the right response, but it does not undo the embarrassment.
You have to wonder how this even happens. Someone designed the trophy. Someone approved it. Someone shipped it. At every step, somebody had a chance to catch the mistake. Nobody did. Either nobody at the NFL bothered to double check, or the people who did check did not actually know which player won which award.
Smith-Njigba earned this trophy. He racked up monster numbers for Seattle and was the most productive offensive player in the league last season. The plaque should be a permanent reminder of one of the great individual seasons. Instead, it is a meme.
The bigger picture for Smith-Njigba is that he has every reason to feel slighted by the league office. Reigning OPOY winners are usually treated like royalty in the offseason. They get the magazine covers, the commercial deals, and the kid-glove treatment. Smith-Njigba is getting typos.
For Seahawks fans, this is just another reminder that the team’s brightest star is consistently underrated nationally. Seattle plays in a time zone that does not get the late-night attention, and the franchise has been a quiet contender for years. Smith-Njigba being treated as an afterthought by the league office fits the pattern.
The NFL will ship him a new trophy. He will accept it, probably with a smile, and move on. But the moment is captured forever. Somewhere in the NFL’s offices, somebody had to explain to their boss how the Offensive Player of the Year trophy ended up labeled Defensive Player of the Year. That conversation could not have been fun.
It is a small thing. It is also a perfect example of how an organization that runs the most valuable sports league on the planet still cannot get the basic stuff right.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
