Jaxon Smith-Njigba apparently has another reason to feel slighted -- and he's speaking out about it. Smith-Njigba, the NFL's reigning Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year, posted a video to his Instagram account that shows his trophy was mislabeled.
The video, posted late Monday as an Instagram story, shows the Seattle Seahawks star holding the trophy, which says: "2025 Defensive Player Of The Year." "I really want to expose them," Smith-Njigba says in the video. "It's getting disrespectful, guys." NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told The Athletic later Monday that the league will send Smith-Njigba a new trophy.
"The league made the mistake," McCarthy told The Athletic. "We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy.
"Of course, like the teams he played against this year, we know how great an offensive player he is. We just had a problem spelling it." Smith-Njigba also pointed out a smaller typo on the trophy, where it appeared there was no space between the words "The" and "Year." While pointing to the apparent "TheYear" mistake on the label, Smith-Njigba says: "One word?
Man." The video includes a caption in which Smith-Njigba writes: "It's getting disrespectful at this point." Although he didn't say it in the video, Smith-Njigba potentially was referring to a similar gaffe at the February NFL Honors event, when his name was mispronounced multiple times by comedian Druski, who announced the award. Smith-Njigba posted a second Instagram story that included a photo of himself with a caption that read: "Just keep the award at this point.
Leave it in the history books tho." After helping lead the Seahawks to a victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, Smith-Njigba landed a four-year, $168.6 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The deal averages $42.15 million per year and includes over $120 million guaranteed, both setting records for a wide receiver.
Smith-Njigba, 24, set career highs in receptions (119), receiving yards (1,793) and touchdown receptions (10) en route to being named a first-team All-Pro in 2025. In three postseason games, he had 17 catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns.