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Fun with Etymology: What's in a name? More than you might think...

We've all seen them. The seemingly ubiquitous ads encouraging you to research your genealogy, build your family tree, or otherwise convince you to visit their website to drive their ad revenue.

Recently, driven by the kind of inspiration that can only come from having consumed half of a case of Yuengling, I decided to click on one of the ads to find out where my last name came from and what it means. As I expected, it yielded nothing useful.

Then, for the hell of it, I typed in "Meaning of the name DeCastro." And I was glad I did.

Doing some basic research, I discovered that several of our Pittsburgh Steelers names have meanings that are very much in line with our opinions of the players... We'll explore two rookie linemen, two top receivers, the founder of the organization, and a player that I simply couldn't leave off the list - after the jump.

Before we begin, I need to disclose that the research methods I used wouldn't pass scholarly scrutiny for a 9th grade class, although I'm fairly confident that Morris Claiborne wouldn't either, so I'll take my liberties. I also will point out that the conclusions and parallels I draw can be a bit of a reach, but I'll do my best to justify them. Finally, the awesome imagery that some of the names cast can probably be attributed to the fact that people pick their names on purpose, and it's unlikely that someone will choose a degrading or bland concept to be branded as.

Well, with that out of the way, let's take a look at the player that originally cleared the path for this article:

David Decastro - Beloved Fortress

When "Fortress" came up as the origin of DeCastro, I knew I was on to something. I mean, look at the guy. He's 6'5", 316 pounds of semi-cured concrete. David, as it turns out, means beloved. Is there a player on the team that we love more than DeCastro right now? He's already been deemed The Immaculate Selection, and he hasn't set foot on the playing field yet. We were salivating over the idea of him falling all the way to us, much the same way that I'd salivate over the opportunity to date Kate Upton. It's a beautiful image and something that I'd love to have happen, but it just isn't going to. But then, on draft day, Kate knocked on the door. I remember reading the open thread the day of the draft and imagining all of you jumping up and down and yelling like I was.

Michael (Mike) Adams - Who is like God? Son of Adam.

In the disclaimer, I said I'd be reaching a little bit. Here we go. The "who is like God?" portion is meant to be interpreted as a rhetorical question, the obvious answer being "uh, nobody." This resonates with me for Mr. Adams if taken in the context of humility. The transformation from college Adams (Who is like God? Me, obviously. Are we out of pot already?) to pro Adams (Who is like God? Certainly not me - I'm just happy to be drafted, I don't even want a signing bonus). Now, whether or not Mike sticks to that changed philosophy depends on the second half of his name - Son of Adam. Adam had two sons, Cain (college Adams) and Abel (pro Adams, so far). It will be interesting to see how this develops, but I have a feeling a certain Beloved Fortress of ours might push him in the right direction.

Michael (Mike) Wallace - Who is like God? Foreigner.

Building on the Adams post, Wallace might answer the rhetorical question with "Who is like god? Nobody is like me, but thanks for asking." Confidence is a great thing to have if you want to be good, and it is essential when you want to be great. However, when your ego gets in the way of helping your team and yourself progress, that's a problem. I'm not suggesting that the relationship can't be repaired (see son of Adam above), but there's a lot of work to be done and the arrogance isn't helping things. The "Foreigner" (JUKE box HEROOO) portion currently makes sense because, at least so far, he is not within the boarders of Steeler nation. (I'm hoping that shortly this section of the post will make absolutely no sense).

Antonio Brown - Highly praiseworthy - Dark Complexion

Okay, so I cheated a little bit. There's nothing particularly meaningful about his last name, but I couldn't ignore the meaning of the first. I'm sure my fellow BTSC readers need no explanation on why it applies, so I'll just use this space to congratulate AB on his $42,500,000 worth of praise. Well done, sir.

Isaac Redman - He will laugh - army of might.

This is too perfect. Redman means Army of Might? I couldn't have thought of a better one. Redman is an army of might. Redman will march through you and score. Then Redman will laugh. Then he will score again. Then he will laugh again. Then your son will stop cheering for the team you play for and will buy a Redman jersey. Then your wife will leave you for him.

Arthur (Art) Rooney - Bear King, the Descendant of the Champion

I KNOW, RIGHT?! HOW F------ AWESOME IS THAT?! Arthur comes from two german words meaning Bear and King. Rooney came from an Irish line that was descended from someone who was evidently so awesome that "the champion" was enough to understand who you meant. Sort of how "the great one" needs no explanation in the context of hockey. When someone is that awesome, they transition from mere humanity and become the stuff of legend. Since Art Rooney is the father of the organization, I suppose that makes the Steelers the Descendants of the Champion as well.

(Oh, and because I want Malor to contribute, I looked up "Flacco." It comes from the Spanish "Flaco" meaning Thin, skinny, feeble, or weak. No I did not make that up.)

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