Devlin Hodges has been thrust into a starting quarterback role for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he is easy to remember thanks to a catchy nickname.
The former FCS star is nicknamed “Duck,” and he shared the origins of the nickname prior to his start on “Sunday Night Football” against the Chargers.
“I got the nickname actually in college. A bunch of guys on the team were like, ‘if he’s duck, it’s duck season.’ My head coach started calling me ‘duck.’ It stuck with me ever since,” Hodges said in a piece aired by NBC.
Hodges threw for an FCS record 14,584 yards at Samford, breaking Steve McNair’s career passing yards record.
His college coach, Chris Hatcher, claims credit for the “Duck” nickname.
“‘Duck’ is not a great nickname for a QB, (because the term ‘duck’ can mean a poorly-thrown pass), but I’m just an old simple guy from Macon, Ga., and ‘Devlin’ was just hard for me to say all the time … So he got talking about (his duck-calling skills), and I got to picking at him a little bit about it, and I said, ‘Man, I just am gonna start calling you Duck.’ And it kinda stuck. In fact in my phone, it says ‘Duck Hodges’ in there. It kinda took off from there,” Hatcher told the Pittsburgh Tribune.
Beyond just being a record-breaking quarterback, Hodges was the 2009 Junior World Duck Calling Champion and the 2018 Alabama Duck Calling champion. Duck loves to hunt, and hunt ducks, as you could imagine.
“Duck” is more than just a nickname; it’s a talent for Hodges.
Quack pic.twitter.com/k1LKKvvjQS
— Devlin Hodges (@DevlinHodges10) October 12, 2019
Got em again today pic.twitter.com/ghP0zs7PBn
— Devlin Hodges (@DevlinHodges10) December 19, 2016
Duck Hodges even lives the duck life. He shared a quote about a duck, saying “Always behave like a duck. Keep calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like hell underwater.”
— Devlin Hodges (@DevlinHodges10) October 8, 2019
