Photo : Ron Schwane ( AP )

Tyrod Taylor is about to begin his eighth season in the NFL, his fourth as a full-time starting quarterback, and his first with the Cleveland Browns (the poor bastard). All this time, his first name has been pronounced incorrectly, apparently.


In the first episode of Hard Knocks that aired last week, Browns fourth-string QB Brogan Roback can clearly be heard pronouncing Taylor’s first name as Tuh-rod. Okay, maybe Roback was wrong. Then, this week, the matter picked up steam.


It’s entirely possible Taylor was too polite to correct Lee Corso way back when. But there’s also something Very NFL about a young player deferring to authority even upon hearing that A Football Man mispronounced his name. Who wants to be labeled a REBEL, or, worse, a DISTRACTION when under the gaze of 32 potential future employers in search of their next LEADER?

Today, the Browns saw fit to correct the record.


Er, hang on, though, according to ESPN’s Mina Kimes:


Someone should ask Taylor about this. Oh, look. Someone did!


That settles it: Di’allo it is.

Update: A few commenters have mentioned that there’s a video feature out there in which Taylor pronounces his name “Tie-rod” (24-second mark) even as his mother later calls him “Tuh-rod” (1:36). Watch for yourself: