Prior to the 2025 NFL Draft and throughout the ensuing offseason, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was one of the most highly touted rookie prospects. And even after a jaw-dropping five-game start to his NFL career, which has put him in the driver’s seat for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, pundits still struggle to pronounce his name correctly.
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It’s nothing new. We’ve seen it happen often when aging sports analysts try to say names from an increasingly global pool of players. Just watch Charles Barkley trying to say Jonas Valanciunas’ name (it’s a good laugh) and you’ll get what we mean.
Even an MVP guy like Giannis Antetokounmpo has to deal with this type of stuff. But at least some analysts are doing what they can to fix their mistakes.
Fox’s Rob Gronkowski, never known for being detail-oriented, once referred to Emeka Egbuka as “Am-eeka Egbigboo.” It’s hilarious on the face of it, but not ideal from a professional perspective.
And Gronk did the right thing. He got on a call with the young receiver, and they laughed about his self-proclaimed “brain fart” as Egbuka explained exactly how to pronounce his name to avoid future mistakes.
“I was practicing your name a couple of times because, like I said, you’re making plays all over the place, so your name’s getting brought up on a continuous basis every single week. So congratulations on that. … Everyone keeps telling me the ‘G’ is silent. Is that correct?” Gronk asked.
“The ‘G’ is silent, yeah,” Egbuka said with a laugh.
However, that wasn’t the only mistake Gronk had made with Egbuka’s name. So, the future Hall of Famer made sure to cover all of his bases on this one. He wanted to make sure he got the first name, ‘Emeka’, correct as well.
“Gronk: And it’s not Ameeka, it’s Emeka?
Egbuka: Emeka. (Smiles)
Gronk: Emeka Egbuka.
Egbuka: Ah-buka.
Gronk: A boo, like you’ve got a pretty girlfriend.
Egbuka: Exactly, and it’ll just flow nice too, Emeka Egbuka. Like boom.”
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Gronk seemed to get it, but being the jovial and honest guy he is, he joked that he can’t promise he won’t make a similar mistake again. Egbuka laughed and said he gets that it takes a few times and that he’ll just have to make some more plays to ensure his name keeps being brought up every week.
And it’s not like Egbuka hasn’t made a ton already. He’s coming off back-to-back 100-yard games as he has become the WR1 in Tampa Bay. When he was drafted, he was expected to slot in as WR3 behind Pro Bowlers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.
But with both veterans missing time, Egbuka has stepped up with 445 yards (fourth in the NFL) and five TDs (T-2nd) on 25 catches (T-21st). Maybe by the time he hits the 1,000-yard plateau, Gronk and the rest of them will have all those syllables down pat.
