Jaxon Smith-Njigba won the NFL's offensive player of the year award for the 2025 season. When his trophy arrived, it said something different entirely.
The plaque on Smith-Njigba's physical award read "2025 defensive player of the year," a mistake the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver brought to public attention himself through a short story on his Instagram page. According to Yahoo Sports, Smith-Njigba responded to the error plainly: "It's getting disrespectful at this point."
Smith-Njigba had one of the standout offensive seasons in the league in 2025, leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards and scoring 10 touchdowns on his way to an All-Pro selection. The season ended with a Super Bowl run for Seattle, during which Smith-Njigba caught 17 passes for 199 yards and two scores in the postseason. His biggest performance came in the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams, when he put up 153 receiving yards and helped push the Seahawks into the Super Bowl.
The award engraving error raises an obvious follow-up question: what did Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett receive? Garrett was the actual 2025 defensive player of the year, which means there is at least a possibility that his trophy was mislabeled as well. As of Monday, Garrett had not posted anything or offered any public comment suggesting his trophy carried the wrong title. Yahoo Sports noted that Garrett already owns a previous defensive player of the year award, so it is possible he did not examine the new one closely.
The NFL has not publicly addressed the mistake. Given the circumstances, Smith-Njigba is expected to receive a corrected trophy in the coming weeks.