From South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo, the Southeastern Conference has been filled this football season with unique names.
The best name still suiting up is LSU redshirt sophomore defensive end Barkevious Mingo, which may be the most fun of them all to say. The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder from West Monroe, La., leads the top-ranked Tigers with 13.5 tackles for loss and has eight sacks, but how did he get that name?
“It’s just one of those things my mom gave me,” he said, smiling. “I guess she just pulled it out of the hat. There is no other Barkevious down the family line.”
Living with such a name has been an adventure for Mingo, who has a brother named Hughtavious.
“I’ve been to track meets where announcers have just slaughtered my name,” he said. “They’ll say that it’s ‘Barkavarious’ or “Bartevious,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t even have a T in my name.’ It’s just one of those things.”
LSU’s other standout redshirt sophomore defensive end, Sam Montgomery, has a very tame name by comparison. Montgomery ruffled some Crimson Tide fans before the first meeting between the teams at Bryant-Denny Stadium in November, when he was asked about Bear Bryant.
“I don’t know anything about Bear Bryant,” he said. “I really haven’t looked at film that much.”
Montgomery enters Monday’s rematch a little more aware of the legendary Alabama coach.
“I was one of those guys who didn’t watch ESPN and didn’t watch sports,” he said. “So if they would have read up on me, they would have known why I didn’t know who Bear Bryant was.
“I took some time out of my day to find out who Bear Bryant was, and I have a lot of respect for that man.”