Andy Dalton: Always in the Red Zone

Andy Dalton always works best in the Red Zone, and by that we mean he’s now accustomed to the nickname and the other things that come from being a redhead.

By Josh Kirkendall @CincyJungle

There are times when nicknames just stick.

The Rattler, the S.W.A.T team, The Law Firm, Big Daddy, Boomer, Ickey, names that were given at some point in a player’s life. And despite the fact that Megatron never wins any battles against the Autobots, its what most people call Calvin Johnson. All Day, the Fridge, Deebo, Beast Mode, Night Train, Crazy Legs, Speedy, we could go on forever.

And sometimes nicknames are forced on players because, well, all good players need a good nickname, right?

When the Bengals drafted Andy Dalton, the diesel engine of the nickname machine was filled. A template was subsequently rendered and because of his hair color, the world “red” had to be somewhere. Eventually it became the “Red Rifle.”

And Dalton has never really liked it; only learned to accept it.

LaDainian Tomlinson interviewed Dalton for FoxSportsSouthwest.com last week, asking him what are his thoughts on the nickname.

“At first I didn’t like it,” Dalton told Tomlinson at FoxSportsSouthwest.com. “I’d rather people just call me by my name, Andy, than ‘Red Rifle.’ If I’m out somewhere to eat and people yell, ‘Hey, Red Rifle!’ I’m kind of like, ‘Oh, come on!’ I’ve learned to accept it because I know the name isn’t going anywhere.”

“I guess the nickname could be worse,” Dalton adds.

Such as Greg Cosell’s nickname of “Red not-really-that-big-of-a Rifle”, which is a bit wordy.