There is no doubt that the Cowboys made a lot of mistakes in the playoff game against the NFL End-of-Season Review: Individual Honors”>49ers last Sunday. However, they add an error that had nothing to do with strategies and performance. And the affected was a player who could have had his last game wearing the Dallas jersey.
It’s about linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who played against San Francisco with his name misspelled on his jersey. As it could be seen in the transmission of the game, the letters S and C of his last name were inverted on his number. This caused it to be read “Vander Ecsh” instead of Vander Esch.
Leighton Vander Esch’s name is misspelled on his jersey ???? pic.twitter.com/IwU1kHhAXi
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) January 16, 2022
Aside from the outfit error, Vander Esch had his most productive performance of the season against the 49ers. The linebacker recorded 13 combined tackles, being key on several occasions to stop the opposing offense. However, this was not enough to prevent Dallas from falling out of the wild-card round of the playoffs.
It’s worth noting that Sunday may have been Leighton Vander Esch’s last game with the Cowboys. Let’s remember that the linebacker, first-round pick in the 2018 Draft, ends his contract in March. In addition, the cowboy team decided months ago not to activate the optional fifth year of Vander Esch’s rookie contract. This, let us remember, due to his poor performance in recent campaigns and his frequent injuries.
However, it is still possible that the “Wolf Hunter” could receive a contract extension with Dallas. Against all odds, LVE was able to stay healthy all season. In 17 regular season games he set these records: 77 combined tackles, 4 tackles for loss of yards, two passes defensed, one interception, one sack and one quarterback hit.
Although Vander Esch put in an acceptable performance, these numbers are light years ahead of his production in 2018, his rookie season. Campaign that, that is to say, was the last that the linebacker played completely before 2021. For this reason, apart from his problems this season missing several tackles, that production may not be enough to guarantee his continuity in Dallas.
“Vander Ecsh”, another dress mistake that goes viral
Going back to Leighton Vander Esch’s jersey against the 49ers, that blunder adds to a long list of uniform blunders that have gone viral. Not only in the NFL, but also in other sports and at different levels.
One of the most recent cases in the NFL was that of Everson Griffen, who coincidentally played in 2020 with the Cowboys. During a game with the Vikings in 2016, the defensive end played in a jersey that had his last name misspelled. Instead of Griffen, the back of the jersey said “Griffin.” And the mistake seems understandable, as many people on social media seem to frequently get the defensive lineman’s last name wrong.
Everson Griffen’s jersey indeed has his name spelled ‘Griffin’. #CMonMan#Skol @SportsCenter
— SUPER. BOWL. CHAMPIONS. ???? (@LuisNFL96) October 9, 2016
Another striking error also occurred with a Dallas player, but in the NBA. On that occasion the affected was Dirk Nowitzki, legendary player of the Mavericks. And the occasion could not have been worse. In the game where the pivot accumulated 50,000 minutes of play as a professional, his number had the surname misspelled: “Nowitkzi”.
Apart from these, there have been many cases where those in charge of typography on the uniforms not only get the names of the players wrong, but also the names of the teams. And that is something that has been seen in different leagues: MLB, NHL, NBA, college football, English Premier League, among others.
On the night Dirk Nowitzki recorded 50,000 career minutes, the name on the back of his jersey is misspelled #WhoIsNowitkzi #CmonFamDoBetter (h/t @ samirbasaria11) pic.twitter.com/H3Gj3LrSyU
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) February 6, 2018
20 years ago today, Joe Carter took the field wearing a “Torotno” uniform. pic.twitter.com/mp95lFWIfd
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) July 14, 2014
At the moment, the future of Leighton Vander Esch for the next season is unknown. The “Wolf Hunter” will be one of the Dallas players whose continuity will be the subject of discussion between the coaching staff and management. Whether we’ll see him wearing the Cowboys’ jersey again in 2022, or another team’s, remains to be seen. And no mistakes on your behalf.
