Smith-Njigba trophy – Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba says his Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year trophy was mistakenly engraved “Defensive Player of the Year,” and he’s now calling for the NFL to replace it.
The video starts the way most award posts do—close on the hardware, the glow of a trophy meant to end a season with certainty. Then Jaxon Smith-Njigba tilts it into view and the words don’t match the moment.
Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks wide receiver who was last season’s Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year, posted an Instagram video showing that his trophy says: “JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA 2025 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THEYEAR.”
In the clip, he doesn’t sound amused for long. He says, “I really want to expose them. It’s getting disrespectful, guys.” Then he points at the word “Defensive” and follows with, “Defense? Come on, bro.” He gestures again, this time at “Theyear,” saying, “One word? Man.”
Smith-Njigba also wrote in the post caption: “Its getting disrespectful at this point,” and added, “Just keep the award at this point. Leave it in the history books tho.”
The anger isn’t just about the spelling. The mismatch lands because the honor he received was supposed to be an offensive award. The Associated Press handles the voting for the awards announced at the annual NFL Honors event. but PFT has been told that the NFL. not the AP. makes the trophies. That means the engraving error—“Defensive Player of the Year” on a trophy for an Offensive Player of the Year—would come down to the engraving work done by whoever the NFL hired.
Smith-Njigba’s message keeps tightening as the post moves from the video’s close-up to what he wants done next. He said they can keep the trophy, but the NFL should, of course, issue him a new one.
The sequence is hard to miss: an offensive honor, an engraved defensive label, and then public frustration with the process before the league could correct the mistake.
For now, his demand is clear and personal—replace the trophy so the record matches the award he says he earned.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Seahawks NFL Honors Offensive Player of the Year trophy engraving Associated Press NFL trophies Instagram