North Carolina State offensive tackle Ikem "Ickey" Ekwonu was selected No. 6 overall by the Carolina Panthers during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft in April.
He agreed to terms Tuesday with the Panthers on his rookie contract:
How did Ekwonu get the "Ickey" nickname? He had a coach who thought he looked like former Bengals running back Elbert "Ickey" Woods, who played in Cincinnati for four seasons and starred for the team as a rookie during the 1988 season.
"He goes by the nickname of Ickey. A coach gave him that nickname because he said he looked like Ickey Woods. And now the big fella is gonna do the Ickey Shuffle a very short distance. He's just going from Raleigh to Charlotte to play for the Carolina Panthers," ESPN's Mike Greenberg said after Ekwonu was drafted.
More from a recent interview with Ekwonu about the nickname, from Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm:
IKEM EKWONU: I was in third grade. Because I was kind of big for my age, I was playing with, like, middle school-- like, seventh and eighth graders.
ERIC EDHOLM: [LAUGHS]
IKEM EKWONU: And I always wanted to play running back. I told the coach that that was always my dream position, is playing running back and being able to hold the ball in my hand and run with it.
And so, kind of just based off that a little bit, too, he said, yeah, you remind me of [INAUDIBLE] Cincinnati Bengals running back he used to watch, Ickey Woods. I took that home. And it really just-- kind of just stuck with me ever since the third grade.
ERIC EDHOLM: Do you do an Ickey shuffle, or-- I don't know. Were you a Bengals fan during their Super Bowl run this year at all? Did you see them in LA at all?
IKEM EKWONU: Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him. I know he was out here in LA. But yeah, I've always been able to do the Ickey shuffle. The second -- you know-- I looked up Ickey Woods and I saw that shuffle, that was just something I wanted to learn.
I actually added my own spin to it, but I'm kind of saving it for when I get the opportunity to score. So you're going to have to wait on that one, but I definitely had my own little spin to it.
ERIC EDHOLM: Fair enough. Maybe if you get picked number one overall, we can see a little teaser of it or something like that, I guess.
IKEM EKWONU: Me and Roger on stage. You might have to let him do it with me. Yeah.
ERIC EDHOLM: You'll have to teach him the steps ahead of time. I promise you that. Right.
IKEM EKWONU: Yeah, exactly.
How Ickey Woods became a Cincinnati Bengals legend
Woods was the Ruler of the Jungle for the Bengals' playoff win in January - Cincinnati's first NFL postseason victory since 1991 - in the AFC Wild Card Round against the Las Vegas Raiders at Paul Brown Stadium. (He scored a rushing touchdown in the '91 win.)
Woods rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns - adding 199 receiving yards on 21 catches - in 1988, thrilling fans with his "Ickey Shuffle" dance each time he scored. He also scored three touchdowns during the 1988 playoffs, helping the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance against the San Francisco 49ers.
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