Some of the most influential people with the largest audiences in sports media work under a name they were not given at birth, whether they went by something else their whole life or developed a stage name to further distinguish themselves and advance their careers. Did you know the last name of recent Radio Hall of Fame inductee Dan Patrick is not actually Patrick? What about OutKick founder Clay Travis, whose first name is not Clay?
In one of the biggest stunners in researching for this article, Big Cat and PFT Commenter are not the real names of the co-hosts of the top sports podcast Pardon My Take.
The idea of a professional name first entered my brain during one of my first semesters of college in an introduction to radio class. One of my favorite professors talked about going by a different name during his career in radio, and one of my classmates said she is already doing the same for her career in media. The reasoning made sense to have a name that’s short and sweet but unique enough that people will remember.
Given that information, I immediately changed my professional name 10 years later without hesitation. If at any point during the past decade you thought you were unimpressed with any of my work, just know it was Erik Buchinger who did that - not me. My name is Erik Butch.
I’ve gone by Erik Butch on my social media and in articles I’ve published the past couple weeks and since I officially went through with this, I finished reading a book, worked out one full time and even stuck to my diet for nearly half a day. The Deceptive Speed motto is to make college football fans smarter, happier and sexier, and all three have come true for me in the Erik Butch era.
Erik Butch: Immediate First Team All-Name Guy
— Erik Butch (@DeceptiveSpeed) August 20, 2021
Especially the sexy part with my new profile picture and the featured image to this article because I’m not sure I or any other human has ever looked better. Mark Ruffalo with a fatter head, according to a woman at a recent trip to Walgreens.
Erik Butch FAQ
Is 28 years old a little late for this? No. I put myself in a great position to do this by being nowhere close to being well known in college football media.
Why Erik Butch? I’m very fortunate I didn’t feel the need to go by a different first name because my parents got this one right. You need a strong name in this business, and there’s nothing strong about an Eric. Every Eric out there understands the stronger, bolder way to spell it is Erik. Think of any of the Erics in your life. You probably do not have many strong feelings about that person because he is so forgettable. You’ll remember an Erik.
And Butch is a nickname I’ve gone by my whole life.
Will this help professionally? Yes. A name is more much more important than talent and hard work.
As somebody who is fascinated with names and gets excited when a college football player with a unique name hits the screen - shoutout quarterback General Booty - I think there is something to having a very recognizable name in a business where that matters. Just looking at some of my Twitter follows of people in sports media in order, I see Greg Peterson. Sean Maloney. Paul Pabst. Jesse Temple. Stewart Mandel. Mark Titus. Bruce Feldman. Kirk Herbstreit. Paul Finebaum. Matt Lepay. Ross Tucker. Barrett Sallee. Darren Rovell. Andy Staples. Dan Wetzel. Scott Van Pelt. There is no question on how to pronounce any of these names, and I think that’s an advantage. Nobody ever gotten my real last name correct on the first try, and I’ve come to find out there’s even some in-family debate on the pronunciation.
I will be on another podcast as a guest soon and would like to do more of that. By law when somebody has you on their show, they must ask about your social media and not only will my name be correct, I finally secured the @DeceptiveSpeed account in a three-year battle with Twitter that ended in victory. Since the Erik Butch switch, I’ve gone up a whole five Twitter followers. In an unrelated note, I recently set up five burner accounts.
Why now? They never tell you how hard it is to make a living online as a fugitive.
Just kidding, I’m not running from the law yet but if I was ever going to do this, it would be now. I was in need of a quick life reset after a string of not-so-great things happening over the course of several months in 2020 highlighted by a hospital trip when I was the newest member of the 27 club. Next time I go through some life adversity, maybe I’ll change it up again. I’m considering a new name every college football season to keep people on their toes and am open to suggestions for the fall of 2022.
Is your family disappointed in you? Of course, but that was established long before this. The only person I may be letting down is Matthias Buchinger and don’t even consider telling me anything on his Wikipedia is not 100% accurate. Everybody thinks their family is the funniest on the planet but if you’re not a part of his family tree, just know you’re wrong.
Sincerely,
Erik Butch
Keep the conversation going by reaching out to Erik Butch on Twitter.
