Oshane Ximines confident he can live up to new 'X-man' nickname
Oshane Ximines, the New York Giants third round draft pick, talks to reporters during NFL football rookie camp, Friday, May 3, 2019, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Credit: AP/Julio Cortez
When Pat Shurmur called Oshane Ximines a week ago to tell him the Giants would draft him in the third round, he addressed him with what sounded like a familiar nickname.
“X-man!” Shurmur called him.
Then, when talking to the media after the pick, Shurmur spoke glowingly about “the X-man” and all the things he might bring to the defense.
The strange part of the nomenclature? Ximines said no one had ever called him “X-man” before in his life.
“That’s the first time anybody ever called me ‘X-man,’” Ximines said on Friday. “But I love the nickname and I hope we keep that going.”
It seems to have stuck. After “X-man” buzz began to hit the internet, thanks to Shurmur’s insistence of calling his new linebacker that name, Ximines’ friends even began calling him that.
Of course, a player needs to produce to be worthy of a good nickname. Otherwise it can become a joke. Imagine if Ximines gets cut by the Giants before his rookie contract expires? He’d be the “Ex-man.”
Ximines is confident that he’ll be able to live up to his new handle.
“I feel like it’s going to keep going in the right direction,” he said
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
