Bucs running back Doug Martin is asking -- and asking nicely -- people to forget his “Muscle Hamster” nickname.
When someone who works on the official NFL Twitter account attached a Martin highlight from Monday night’s preseason game vs. the Bengals and wrote that Martin was “breaking tackles like 2012 Muscle Hamster,” Martin replied to that tweet by asking the person who wrote it to please refrain from using that name.
This is not new. In a June interview with USA Today, Martin said “Muscle Hamster” is “the worst nickname possibly ever given to somebody. I hope it changes, and I hope that I play to a level where my nickname changes. That’s what my goals are.”
Even as far back as his 1,454-yard rookie season in 2012, Martin was trying to explain why he wanted the “Muscle Hamster” nickname to be left at Boise State, where it was born.
Martin has missed 15 games over the last two seasons due to injury, and the Bucs have struggled. Martin has looked leaner and quicker this preseason, though, and in a contract year he’s hoping to be more like the back who made people pay attention to his game and his nickname in 2012.
