Stanford/Colts Rookie TE Coby Fleener's Mom Named Him After a Redskins Great

[Dan T.]

Coby Fleener, drafted out of Stanford by the Indianapolis Colts (and rejoining his college QB Andrew Luck there) studied journalism in college, and wrote an interesting piece for SI on the NFL rookie symposium as a guest columnist for Peter King. It includes the tidbit that Pacman Jones told the group he once blew a million dollars in a single day. (Link below.)

There's nothing about the Redskins rookies in Fleener's column, but there is this Redskins-related tale about him: he is named after Redskins tackle Joe Jacoby. Here's how he tells the story:

"My mom told me how she and my dad were living in Lemont, Ill., in September 1988, watching an NFL game on television. Pregnant with her first child, a son, she saw a name she liked on the back of a Washington Redskins’ jersey. She turned to my dad, pointed to the name on the jersey of the massive 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle and proposed they name their son Jacoby.

My dad wasn’t too keen on the name. Today however, he denies wanting to name his son for himself, but I suspect it’s easy to deny the idea now. He says that while he wasn’t a fan of the full name, a potential nickname, “Coby,” did pique his interest. After a difficult delivery, my dad agreed to my mom’s wish. I likely would have been Billy Jr., had Joe Jacoby not been playing for the Redskins that day."

In college, for a sports journalism class, he ended him interviewing Big Jake for a class assignment.

Fleener's SI column on the NFL Rookie Symposium:

http://peninsulapress.com/2012/04/27/colts-draft-pick-coby-fleener-was-named-for-another-nfl-great/

Article about Jacoby name and interviewing Joe:

http://peninsulapress.com/2012/04/27/colts-draft-pick-coby-fleener-was-named-for-another-nfl-great/

[SteveFromYellowstone]

Thats amazing lol! Too bad we already have Fred and Chris or he might be a Redskin!

[pjfootballer]

Pretty cool. And the 2nd article is great. Didn't know all of that about Jacoby.

[Riggo-toni]

There's a great life lesson in Grimm being there for him at a time when Grimm didn't yet know him and when Jacoby's spot on the team (unlike Grimm) wasn't particularly secure. The goodwill from that I'm sure will never be forgotten.

[Dan T.]

Pretty cool. And the 2nd article is great. Didn't know all of that about Jacoby.

I hadn't known about his hardships in college, esp. the deaths in his family. It was a touching story about Grimm's support after Jake hearing the news of his mom's death at rookie camp.

---------- Post added July-3rd-2012 at 01:08 PM ----------

There's a great life lesson in Grimm being there for him at a time when Grimm didn't yet know him and when Jacoby's spot on the team (unlike Grimm) wasn't particularly secure. The goodwill from that I'm sure will never be forgotten.

Well said, Riggo...

[pjfootballer]

I hadn't known about his hardships in college, esp. the deaths in his family. It was a touching story about Grimm's support after Jake hearing the news of his mom's death at rookie camp.

That's why they were the 2 best at their positions in the 80s. Now we know why they meshed so well.

[gortiz]

that's a cool story ...

my mom flat out named me after a 1960's - 1970's QB, but here's the clue, it was his last name that made it as my first name! have at it! Oh and by the way, all my friends, when they found out about this, used this QB's first name as my nickname.

[roanoker]

Thanks for the post. The story on Joe was awesome.

[Dan T.]

that's a cool story ...

my mom flat out named me after a 1960's - 1970's QB, but here's the clue, it was his last name that made it as my first name! have at it! Oh and by the way, all my friends, when they found out about this, used this QB's first name as my nickname.

Theofilides?

[pjfootballer]

that's a cool story ...

my mom flat out named me after a 1960's - 1970's QB, but here's the clue, it was his last name that made it as my first name! have at it! Oh and by the way, all my friends, when they found out about this, used this QB's first name as my nickname.

LeBaron? Jurgenson? Starr? Lamonica? Namath?

[Dan T.]

Plunkett? Bartkowski? Griese?

[pjfootballer]

Blanda? Hadl? Tarkenton? Landry (Greg)? Snead? Meredith? Dawson?

[ouvan59]

that's a cool story ...

my mom flat out named me after a 1960's - 1970's QB, but here's the clue, it was his last name that made it as my first name! have at it! Oh and by the way, all my friends, when they found out about this, used this QB's first name as my nickname.

Roman Gabriel?