Jaxon Smith-Njigba had already done the hard part. He put together an Offensive Player of the Year season, finished with one of the highest single-season receiving totals in NFL history, and gave the league every reason to get his award moment right. Somehow, that is where things went sideways.

When the trophy finally reached him, Smith-Njigba noticed the plaque did not look right. In a video he shared, it appeared to say “2025 Defensive Player of the Year,” while “Offensive” seemed to be misspelled as “Oefensive.” There was another issue on the plaque as well, with “The Year” appearing without a space. “Just keep the award at this point,” Smith-Njigba wrote on his Instagram stories. “Leave it in the history books, tho.”
The NFL later clarified that the first letter was an “O,” not a “D,” and that the font had created some confusion. Still, the league admitted the spelling mistake was real.

“The league made the mistake,” chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, per The Athletic’s Jayna Bardahl. “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.”

However, for Smith-Njigba and his family, the trophy mistake did not land like an isolated typo. Jaxon’s brother, Canaan Smith-Njigba, listed multiple instances where the league had done the WR dirty.

The NFL allegedly used the same photos of Jaxon for promotions, which showed him doing the dunk-celebration that he had been fined for. Also included was the NFL Honors ceremony, which missed showing the pre-recorded acceptance speech from the WR.

“At some point, professionalism, respect, and attention to detail should matter,” Canaan Smith-Njigba wrote on X, after the OPOY award fiasco.

The frustration in JSN and his brother is valid, especially after the star wideout caught 119 passes for a league-leading 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. He led voting for OPOY honors with 272 points, ahead of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua. He also set Seahawks franchise records in catches and receiving yards, becoming only the second player in team history after Steve Largent to lead the league in receiving.

The context only makes the mistake harder to brush off. NFL.com’s own write-up noted that Smith-Njigba also led the league in deep receiving yards with 542 and deep receptions with 13, making his season more than just a volume-heavy breakout. He was producing explosive plays, carrying a historic receiving year, and doing it in an offense that was not built only around airing the ball out.

However, the WR’s experience with getting to carry this mantle began on the wrong foot.

Awkward history of Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s OPOY award

Canaan Smith-Njigba also mentioned the disrespect to the WR at the NFL Honors, the league’s annual award ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. NFL legend Barry Sanders and comedian Druski presented the award for 2026 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

As Druski was given the opportunity to announce Njigba as the winner, he declared that it was a difficult name to pronounce. After struggling with “Najigba,” and “Najiba,” he finally landed on “JSN.” Immediately after this comment, Druski faced scrutiny for his actions, as one of his creative solutions sounded similar to a racial slur. The Seahawks’ PR account had to step in after the gross disrespect.

“Hall of Famer Barry Sanders drew the short straw getting stuck with [Druski’s] big whiff tonight,” wrote the Seahawks PR X account. “Put some respect on [Seahawks] WR [Jaxon Smith-Njigba]’s name.”

Druski later said on CBS Mornings that he had reached out to the WR, but never heard back from him. “I even hit him up … I reached out and [said] congratulations to him, the team, on the Super Bowl,” Druski said. “I didn’t get no response back, but I did reach out. I tried.”

He also defended the risk that comes with comedy, saying, “When we talk about walking the line of comedy, you know sometimes you do have to take that chance.” The NFL never reprimanded the artist nor expressed its disappointment at the mistake.

That is why the trophy error hit harder than a simple engraving issue. Smith-Njigba was not ignored by voters. He was named a unanimous first-team All-Pro, won Offensive Player of the Year, and received the kind of recognition his season demanded. But the ceremonial side of that recognition kept arriving with mistakes attached to it.

This makes it understandable why Jaxon Smith-Njigba was frustrated enough to consider returning the award. The honor was never properly conferred on the WR, even when the league had the chance to do better. At least the Seahawks have shown their respect where it matters most, signing him to the richest wide receiver contract in NFL history.