The Five Wildest Names In The History Of American Sports

Every generation seemingly has a few players known for having absolutely wild names, and often they become a hometown or fan favorite. You have to respect that they reached the pinnacle of their respective sports, but it makes one wonder if their extra memorable name played a part. There are so many unique and interesting names, so we had to do our best to narrow it down. Here is our list of the five wildest names in American sports history.

#5 – Razor Shines – MLB

Razor Shines played Major League Baseball in the early 80s. He spent parts of four seasons with the Montreal Expos but was a local legend in Indianapolis playing for the Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians. Shines went on to have a lengthy coaching career managing at the minor league level and coaching 3rd base for three seasons for the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox.

On May 16, 2006, the Indianapolis Indians honored Shines when he was the visiting manager for the Charlotte Knights with “Razor Shines night.” “Razor” is a family name. It was his grandfather’s middle name and his father’s middle name. It is his son Devin’s middle name as well. Razor Shines belongs on any list of wildest names in American sports.

#4 &3 – Scientific and Majestic Mapp – NCAA Basketball

Majestic Mapp and his older brother Scientific were two college basketball players that hailed from New York City. Scientific Mapp played at Florida A&M and was a solid college player, but his younger brother was an absolute phenom in the late 90s playing for St. Raymonds in New York City.

Majestic was named a McDonald’s All-American his Sr. year of high school and committed to play at the University of Virginia. After an excellent Freshman campaign, Majestic was playing pickup in the Summer of 2000 at his alma mater St. Ray’s as he prepared for a big season at UVA. During that game of pickup, Majestic suffered a horrific knee injury which would eventually require five surgeries and almost three years before Majestic was able to return to the court, but he was never the same.

Majestic is now a commodities trader on Wall Street and plays in a pick-up basketball series that switches back and forth from Rucker Park to Venice Beach. These two brothers certainly belong on any list of the wildest names in the history of American sports.

#2 – I. M. Hipp – NCAA Football

Isaiah Moses Hipp, or I.M. as he was known, may have a more interesting story than he does a name. He was a walk-on football player at the Univeristy of Nebraska when Nebraska was one of the premier college football teams in the country.

When Hipp finally suited up for a varsity game in his sophomore season, coach Tom Osborne had to ask who he was. But he worked his way up to earn the backup running back roll, and fate struck.

The Huskers’ star running back Rick Berns was forced to sit out a few games with, and this is actually what happened, a hip-pointer injury. Hipp would take full advantage. In his first start, he ran for 122 yards vs. Baylor. In just his second career start, Hipp broke the Nebraska all-time rushing record with 254 yards against Indiana. The next week he followed that record-breaking effort up with another 207 yards against Kansas State, becoming the first Cornhusker to ever rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games.

Hipp would go on to rush for over 1,000 yards in two different seasons and was a 4th round draft pick in the 1980 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

#1 – Wonderful Terrific Monds – NFL

Wonderful Terrific Monds, or Wonder Monds, played defensive back at the University of Nebraska and for the San Francisco 49ers in 1978. He was given the name after he was the first grandson of his grandparents. After they had five granddaughters, his father thought it was “wonderful” they finally had a boy in the family.

Wonderful went on to have three sons. All of them were great athletes, but two were also named Wonderful Terrific Monds. His oldest son Marion Monds played defensive tackle in the NFL, while his sons Wonderful Terrific Monds II and Wonderful Terrific Monds III played minor league baseball and college football, respectively.