Lions' Jamaal Williams references Naruto in viral 'Swagg Kazekage' intro on 'Sunday Night Football'

Jacob Camenker

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Lions' Jamaal Williams references Naruto in viral 'Swagg Kazekage' intro on 'Sunday Night Football' image

NFL players have had a lot of fun with their taped player introductions for "Sunday Night Football" over the years, but Jamaal Williams took it to another level in Week 18 of the 2022 season.

Williams didn't state his college or high school in his introduction, nor did the Lions running back state his name.

So, what did he say? At first, it was hard to decipher. Some thought that he was trying to say his name backward. Instead, it appears that he was making a reference to the popular anime Naruto, of which he is a big fan.

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Williams apparently was referring to himself as "Swagg Kazekage," as you can hear in the clip below.

In Naruto, the Kazekage are the leaders of Sunagakure, a small but powerful village located in the Land of Wind. The word "Kazekage" translates to "wind shadow."

So, it would seem that Williams is referring to himself in the intro as a leader of the Lions team by calling himself "Swagg Kazekage."

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But what was the second part of his intro? Well, Williams appeared to say that he is the "leader of the hidden village of the den."

This, too, can be explained. Sunagakure is known to be the hidden village of the wind. One would presume that "the hidden village of the den" that Williams referenced is the Lions, or perhaps the city of Detroit.

Either way, social media was amused by Williams' antics, noting that he even was clad in a classic Naruto headband for his video. Below is a roundup of some of the best reactions to Williams' maneuver:

It will be interesting to see if Williams' move convinces other NFL players to follow suit on future "Sunday Night Football" broadcasts. There will only be a handful more of them during the 2023 NFL playoffs, so perhaps this will become a thing during the 2023 regular season.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.