Jaxon Smith-Njigba had one of the best single seasons a wide receiver has ever had in NFL history last season.
The Seattle Seahawks star totaled 119 catches, 1,793 yards, and 10 touchdowns, which he parlayed into a new four-year, $168.6 million contract extension. It was the eighth-most receiving yards for a WR in a single season.
His performance also earned him NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors. But when Smith-Njigba received his NFL Honors award, there was one glaring mistake: the inscription said “2025 Defensive Player of the Year” and it didn’t have a space between “theYear”— both clear errors that Smith-Njigba called “disrespectful” on his Instagram story.
“I really want to expose them,” Smith-Njigba said in his video. “It’s getting disrespectful, guys.”
The NFL took action almost immediately as league spokesperson Brian McCarthy told The Athletic that a new, correct trophy was already in the works.
“The league made the mistake,” McCarthy said. “We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy. Of course, like the teams he played against this year, we know how great an offensive player he is. We just had a problem spelling it.”
After his initial video started going viral, Smith-Njigba posted a secondary Instagram story with a photo of himself with the caption: “Just keep the award at this point. Leave it in the history books tho.”
Smith-Njigba led the NFL in receiving yards last season and ranked second in yards per game (105.5), fourth in receptions, fifth in targets (163), and sixth in touchdowns.
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