Comedian and actor Druski caused a stir at the 2026 NFL Honors when he mispronounced the name of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba after he took the stage to announce the winner of the NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Per USA Today, Druski, 31, was part of the presenters at the event. And though the comedian announced Smith-Njigba as the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, he raised eyebrows for not properly pronouncing the NFL star’s name. Smith-Njigba, 24, is of American and Sierra Leonean heritage.
Druski, who later apologized for mispronouncing Smith-Njigba’s name, told CBS Mornings during a February 19 appearance that he later reached out to the NFL star and Super Bowl LX winner.
“I like to mess around and sometimes you can go too far,” Druski, whose real name is Drew Desbordes, said. The 31-year-old also stated that pronouncing Smith-Njigba’s name wasn’t an easy task.
“I reached out and congratulations to him, the team on the Super Bowl. I thought that was an amazing thing. Yeah I didn’t get no response back, but I did reach out, I tried.”
Druski additionally touched on his craft, saying that not all jokes will be widely accepted.
“When we talk about walking the line of comedy, sometimes you do have to take that chance,” he explained. “I think it’s not all gonna be a successful hit. Nothing you do in anything when you try to pursue greatness is gonna be success, success, success.”
NFL legend and Hall of Famer Barry Sanders was on stage with Druski to present the award, and he appeared unimpressed after the comedian mispronounced Smith-Njigba’s name. The Seahawks also called Druski out on social media.
“Hall of Famer Barry Sanders drew the short straw getting stuck with@druski’s big whiff tonight. Put some respect on@Seahawks WR@jaxon_smith1’s name,” the Seahawks wrote on X.
Smith-Njigba’s teammate, Uchenna Nwosu, also weighed in on Druski’s actions in a post on X, describing the comedian as “lame.”
Comedian @druski reached out to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, after using a racial slur while mispronouncing the name of the Offensive Player of the Year at the NFL Honors for the 2025 season.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 19, 2026
Druski told CBS Mornings about how sometimes, comedy can miss the… pic.twitter.com/4lwYIwM7o3
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