Throughout his college football career, and, really, for nearly a decade before that, Kansas linebacker Bam Crouch has happily told the story of how he got his first name.
Officially named Daveon Crouch — the first name starting with a D to later match his younger brother Dashaun — and born on April 3, 2004, Bam was given the nickname that he forever would go by essentially at birth.
See, his mother’s sister had a son a few years earlier on April 4, 2000, and it was Bam’s aunt’s wish that the two cousins had separate birthdays. It went about as far as it could go, but at about 11:30 p.m. on the night of the 3rd back in 2004, Bam was born, with his mom later telling everyone that he “bam’d” his way into the world.
With that, a name was born.
“So, my mom was like I bam’d my way out of her and ever since I started playing football when I was 5 years old it just carried over,” Crouch told R1S1 Sports after Monday’s KU football practice, repeating a story he has shared at least a dozen or so times during his college career. “It’s a unique story and I’m glad I’m able to tell it.”
There’s more to it than just the unique 3-letter name that isn’t altogether uncommon in football. Some of you may remember former Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kansas City running back “Bam” Morris, who starred at Texas Tech in college and was named Byron at birth. And there are a few other former and current NFL players who went by the name, as well.
“At first it was Bam Bam,” Crouch said, noting that his little brother called him that until he was in 8th grade. “I used to actually take the vitamins when I was younger, the Flintstones, and I didn’t even realize that Bam Bam was on there.”
That Bamm Bamm, of course, was the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble. To complete the connection, Crouch’s brother, Dashaun, goes by the nickname, “Dino,” which was the Flintstone family pet.
Crouch cannot remember a day when he didn’t love the name. Everyone called him that. Friends. Family. Teachers. He wrote it on tests and homework. The only time he heard his “trouble name” of Daveon was when he acted up.
That, too, attracted him to the name Bam.
He liked that it made him unique and helped him stand out. He liked how it fit his love of football and helped gain him attention in the sport. And he even used it as motivation to make sure he lived up to it with the way he plays.
“I had some coaches who were like, ‘I’m not gonna call you that until you show me,’” he recalled. “It brought inspiration to my game. I wanted to be more physical, I want that to be my thing that people know me for. It’s worked out well.”
Most of the “prove it” stuff didn’t hit until college.
“I probably first experienced that my sophomore year of college,” he said. “Not so much in high school because when I was there I was already bigger and more dominant. When I got to college and started playing people bigger than me and faster than me, they was like, ‘OK, your name’s Bam; you gotta show me.’”
With four years of college at Boston College already under his belt, Crouch came to Kansas for two reasons – to win and to gain experience in the Big 12, which he said was more physical than the ACC. To be ready for it, he reports having added 11 pounds of muscle and dropped 3% of his body fat.
He played 40 games over four seasons at BC, earning captain’s honors last season, which was cut short to just four games because of injury.
He’s back and feeling good this year and his teammates have noticed throughout the spring and preseason camp.
“Bam’s gonna bring it every day,” fellow transfer linebacker Quincy Davis told R1S1 Sports of his new running mate. “That’s just him. I feel like he’s pretty consistent with it. Bam’s gonna be bam.”
About that…
When talking about the origin of his name on Monday, Crouch, a loud and proud trash talker, was asked if he ever uses it on the field. Like, when he lays someone out does he lean over to them and yell, “Bam!”
“I should. I should,” he said. “I ain’t gonna lie. I’ll think about that. I should. ‘Bam!’ That’s part of my game; I do the talking.”
And now, if you happen to see him saying anything to an opponent or even one of his teammates after a particularly big hit on Fridays and Saturdays this fall, you might have a better idea of what it is.
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