Alabama has a defensive back named Kool-Aid McKinstry

Tom Gatto

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Alabama has a defensive back named Kool-Aid McKinstry image

There are cool names, and then there are people named Kool-Aid.

Like Alabama freshman defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry. "Kool-Aid" is his nickname, but it's so much a part of his history that even the Crimson Tide sports information staff refer to him by it on the team's official roster and in his official bio.

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McKinstry told the origin story of his moniker when he was in high school. AL.com reported that he said his grandmother gave him that nickname because he was born smiling. The Kool-Aid cartoon character is always seen with a smile on its face, of course. 

For the record, McKinstry's given first name is Ga'Quincy, which means he could also go with "GQ," a classy shortened version. And "Kool-Aid" isn't even his full nickname: On Twitter, it's "Koolaid Glizxzy."

But, hey, when you're a five-star recruit, the No. 1-ranked prep cornerback according to 247Sports.com, a Mr. Football in Alabama and a two-sport stud (he plans to play for the Tide men's basketball team next season), you can go by whatever you want.

Pretty sweet deal, that.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.