PHOENIX — Michael Hoomanawanui will try to do once what Ben Roethlisberger did twice, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie couldn’t do twice.
That would be winning a Super Bowl ring with one of the longest names in Super Bowl history.
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“There’s got to be one with 13 or 14 letters, right? I’m at 12,” the Patriots ace blocking tight end told Sporting News. “Houshmandzadeh was going to be my first guess.”
Unfortunately, former Bengals and Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh never played in a Super Bowl. Neither did former Cardinals running back LaRod Stephens-Howling nor Steelers fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala.
Roethlisberger's last name has 14 letters and Rodgers-Cromartie's has 16, both having Hoomanawanui beat. But in terms of full, non-hyphenated first and last names, Hoomanawanui owns the big-game big-name game.
When you pair Hoomanawanui with Rob Gronkowski blocking on the same line, the Seahawks’ defense has a handful with that mouthful in Super Bowl XLIX.
Hoomanawanui’s jersey has become more popular since he became a Patriot in 2012. It caused a problem initially when more people wanted to buy a replica on NFL Shop.
“My family was trying to order them, and they got on the website and it was spelled wrong. So my sister said when she contacted them, ‘You got the name wrong,’ They said ‘No we didn’t.’
“She said, ‘Yes you did’, it's my last name. It’s kind of a funny story, but they got it right.”
Thanks to NESN.com, we have visual evidence of the shop's snafu.
Luckily, there was a simple solution.
“They just had to use smaller letters,” Hoomanawanui said.
