In Seinfeld‘s Season 4 episode, “The Pilot,” Jerry joked that some people are locked into their future jobs at birth by the names their given. The example he cited was that a baby named Jeeves can’t grow up to be anything but a butler. Bowling Green linebacker Gideon Lampron has a similar situation, albeit with his middle name — ESPN.
Lampron, a junior transfer to Bowling Green from Dayton, was given the middle name by his father, a sports enthusiast.
David Briggs of The Blade noted that when Lampron’s mother, Jennifer, was pregnant with his older brother, their father, Marty Lampron, wanted to name him Larry Bird, after the Boston Celtics legend. That didn’t happen. Later, when she was pregnant with Gideon, the middle name “Xavier” was discussed.
“But … he talked about ‘ESPN’ nonstop,” Jennifer said, per Briggs. “And I remember saying, if we have to, at least put a ‘y’ in there.”
“Espyn,” though, was a no-go.
“Marty Lampron, though, figured that would defeat the point,” Briggs detailed. “When the clock hit zero with no middle name locked down — and his wife a little out of it after giving birth — he called an audible. He wrote in ‘ESPN’ on the birth certificate.”
So far, Gideon has lived up to the name. He’ll have more of an opportunity to live up to the name in the 2025 season, where the Falcons first three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
And if he ends up being the best in any stat, we can hardly think of a better nickname than “The Worldwide Leader.”
