Never underestimate the impact of a sibling.
For some, perhaps your brother or sister told you -bert was the funniest way to end a name.
For others, it could be they couldn’t pronounce your name and it came out “Toe” or “Na-kin” or “San-raw”. Such is the case for Elbert L. Woods. His younger brother called him “E-E” and the name Ickey stuck.
Imagine the high jinks young Mr. Woods endured on the playground during recess.
Adversity brings opportunity.
He received a scholarship from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During his senior year, he lead the school with 1,658 yards rushing. The total remains the second-most in UNLV history. To this day, he still holds the school’s record in single game rushing attempts with 37 in two different games. Go Rebels!
Ickey, we of the BoFN thank your brother for his contribution.
Embed from Getty ImagesPerhaps best remembered for the Ickey Shuffle—the touchdown celebration. (Take that playground bullies.) Creating the “Excessive Celebration” rule for the NFL.
But it didn’t stop there. NASCAR fans may remember Darrell Waltrip performing the Ickey Shuffle after winning the 1989 Daytona 500.
Or more recently the GEICO commercial, which featured Mr. Woods at the deli counter.
Or if there are any Cincinnati Bengals fans in the house—Ickey played his entire NFL career for Cincinnati—Jeremy Hill reprised it after scoring a touchdown against Carolina in October 2014.
Football is still in his blood. Ickey is the longtime coach and owner of the Women’s Football Alliance team (full contact), Cincinnati Sizzle. I’ll bet we can fry up an egg or two with the heat they create.
With the passing of his son, Jovante, at home from asthma at the tender age of 16, he created the Jovante Woods Foundation. The foundation provides funding and education for asthma research and organ donor education.
Well BoFN fans, while you rush into the holiday fray, and celebrate the holiday spirit, please take a moment and join me in a cup of cheer.
Perhaps we could all face Cincinnati real sudden-like, toss down our peppermint cocoa, and perform a little Ickey Shuffle—minus the spike if your using the good dishes. If not, don’t forget to say “Opa”!
Now if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Cranium brought home some mistletoe. And I’m dying to test it out. 😉
Cheers!
The Blog of Funny Names 
love the deli commercial!!! Great story–knew none of it, which maybe means I am living under a rock? But who needs contemporary society when you can just read BoFN instead? Great name and great reporting, Fannie. Hope your mistletoe testing was wildly successful. you’re funny.
I loved that commercial. Glad to know we could keep you up to date on contemporary society.
Still testing the mistletoe. You can never be too sure! 😉 Tis the season. . .
That shuffle is a marvelous maneuver! I’m going to introduce it to my repertoire of deli counter dance moves.
What a great name!
Arto, even if your deli counter dances don’t make it on YouTube. I’m still rooting for you and the pastrami.
I love the Ickey shuffle!!!! It’s my second-favorite pro football “shuffle” next to the 1985 Bears’ Super Bowl Shuffle! Did not know the whole story of Ickey Woods, though… I love learning new things on the BoFN!
Glad you loved the shuffle. And that I could add to your amazing knowledge base. I’d hate to challenge you on trivia night. 🙂
I have too many things to say. First, I just got back from the sto’, where I bought peppermint mocha creamer for the first time this year, so jinx. AND I’m eating an everything bagel on my fancy Christmas poinsettia china, so double jinx. However, I did NOT do that Ickey shuffle at the deli counter. His lovely GEICO rendition looks nothing like Waltrip’s, who appears to be shaking out a taco fart.
And as for the -bert, I think we can all agree that ENGEL-bert would be traumatic if one had not saddled oneself with said pretend name later in life. My ex had an uncle named Norbert and my forever husband had an uncle named Delbert, so you can imagine it’s hard for me to keep those names straight. I can’t imagine any -bert name would be a good name over which to swoon, as Amb would say. I would never deign to kiss a Hubert. Is that too long of a title for an autobiography? I Would Never Deign To Kiss A Hubert: the Kerbey story. Or is that how all women feel?
I love that we are jinxing. So who is going to be drinking the Coke? Or do that do that in your neck of the country?
Secondly, I will never think of taco farts the same way again.
As to -bert, and the title of your upcoming autobiography, my father-in-law would have been disappointed as he was a Hubert. And we weren’t allowed to tell. . .
There’s a good chance I’ll drink Coke anyway, so that’s me. And yes, we do that!
I wonder if Hubert will come back into fashion? If girls can like a man named Cumberbatch, surely they could be swayed. I mean British girls, of course. I’m still not down with Hubert.
My forever buddy Mike that I’ve been friends with since we met in the eighth grade — if Kerbey can have a forever husband I can have a forever buddy dagnabbit — had a younger brother whom everybody called Eggbert when we were growing up. And he was a twin. Alas, his real name was Tom and his twin’s name was Joe and Joe did not get any sort of -bert nickname. Two dagnabbits in one comment for me!
Thank your for making BoFN Ickey, Fannie. Mr. Woods is a winner. Dude could run with the football, and that’s why the Ickey Shuffle became a Nationwide thing. Which makes it curious that he’s now dancing for Geico, no? I didn’t know about his son passing and the resulting Foundation, or that he owns a women’s pro football squad. Good work on the research, Fannie, showing the world that Ickey’s more than a hilarious TV spot.
Eggbert, I am so sorry for him. If it’s any consolation, we did interview an author with the pen name Cuthbert Hubert Egbert Soup.
Regarding Mr. Woods, it was a pleasure to watch him play.
You know, Fannie, I never did see my hometown Eggbert’s name in print. Perhaps he too was Egbert after Cuthbert Hubert Soup le plume. Yeah, Ickey rolled!
I don’t know how much research Fannie actually did on this. Maybe she just got it all off Ickeypedia.
Ickeypedia.
Get it?
Arf arf arf.
I also wondered if somewhere Elbert L. “Ickey” Woods has ever met Eldrick “Tiger” Woods. My mind actually wonders about your BoFN posts, Fannie! Woe is me. Yeah, I get it Diddy. Good one!!
Mark I admit, I thought the same thing about the two gentlemen in question. There is no woe, only wonder for inquiring minds. 😉
I may quote you on this wonderful statement sometime, Fannie!
LOL. Anytime. 🙂
Well played Diddy! I’m sure Mr. Woods would love to have his own Ickeypedia. 🙂
Bravo, wdydfae, which I cannot pronounce.
Wait… I just noticed something…. you said something about a sibling saying that -bert was the best way to end a name. I always tell my brother Robert that. Was that a ridiculously awesome reference to something Rob and I told you in the past?!?!
LOL Dave.
I was surprised you did not notice that the first time around. Yes, you and Rob did share that with me sometime ago.
And since I have siblings of my own, I could not help but lead off with it. 🙂
Haha, I guess studying the gastrointestinal system does weird things to a guy… normally I’d always recognize a reference to -bert names! 🙂
I’m guessing we mentioned that during the Cuthbert Hubert Egbert Soup post?!?
The gastrointestinal system. I’ll be sure not to mention things like the Sphincter of Oddi in my next post. . . 🙂
Regarding the -bert names, you first mentioned it to me in an e-mail. It continued from there.
Sphincter of Oddi… good one! I think “duodenojejunal flexure” is my favorite GI term I’ve learned so far.
I love it. How on earth am I going to work that into a casual conversation?
Perhaps I can woo my husband with fiber and tell him it’s good for his “duodenojejunal flexure”. I’m sure that will work! lol.
That definitely will! And it’s also very true! Just make sure you pronounce it right!
Okay, now you’re asking for the moon. Did you leave me a pronunciation key? 😉
Reblogged this on Fannie Cranium's and commented:
Time for a little celebrating folks. How about the Ickey Shuffle to celebrate this season. This month’s contribution to the BoFN. . .
Dang blurb generator! (bang! bang!) Work, dangnurbit! (kick!)
“. . . Fannie takes that hockey stick and drives it down the five yard line for a splendiferous slam dunk . . .”
“. . . Fannie scores another triple play as she lands a knockout blow across the green for a magnificent Ickey shuffle in the end zone . . .”
“. . . the crowd roars like a human wave as Fannie drives that checkered flag across the finish line . . .”
Yeah, a little chewing gum, a few swift kicks, and that blurb generator works just fine.
Now that is a beauty of a “generation” from the blurb generator.
The chewing gum and the swift kicks reminds me of a scene from Operation Petty Coat. Involving a girdle and the engine on a WWII submarine. Hopefully, it won’t have to go that far. 🙂
There was a comparable solution in Armageddon, though without the petticoat. But Liv Tyler compensated for that!
That’s too funny. I forgot about that one.