Carolina running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart? Well, they can get a different nickname.!
Despite confusion out of Carolina, LenDale White (right) and Chris Johnson (left) are the true Smash and Dash.
"You don't make that up halfway through the season," White said Wednesday. "Why ... wait till Week 15 to bring it out? That is fraud. That is very phony. That is not the truth."
White and Johnson introduced themselves as Smash and Dash on Oct. 19 after each ran for career-highs as the Titans rolled up 332 yards rushing in a win at Kansas City. The nickname surfaced nationally for Williams and Stewart after they ran for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns apiece Monday night against Tampa Bay.
That made them only the sixth set of backs since 1960 to each have over 100 yards and two TDs in a game, according to STATS LLC. The fifth? Johnson and White did just that themselves on Thanksgiving in a win at Detroit.
White had a couple of T-shirts featuring the nickname with pictures of the Titans' running backs packaged up with a note he planned to have sent to the Carolina duo. The Titans running backs unveiled the T-shirts last week as a way to raise money for charity.
"If you go back and show me when they ever called those guys Smash and Dash first, I'll give them the name," White said. "Even if I copyrighted it, I'll sign it over to them. If we were Smash and Dash first, they should definitely send us something. They should pay for something, take us to dinner. I don't know what it is. They definitely should get it right."
White and Johnson just missed running for 100 yards apiece a third time this season last week when White was stopped for a 1-yard loss on his final carry. He reminded reporters that Johnson deserved the Dash nickname since he recorded the fastest 40-yard time in the history of the NFL combine at 4.24 seconds.
In Carolina, receiver Steve Smith joked Wednesday about being misquoted in calling Williams and Stewart as Smash and Dash and introduced a new moniker for the duo.
"This is the press release. It's Razzle and Dazzle. It's not Smash and Dash. Offensive linemen did a poll, receivers, quarterbacks, training room, staff -- and it's Razzle and Dazzle," Smith said.
Told that the Titans had claimed the Smash and Dash nickname, Smith said he knew which one was Dash and asked who was Smash? That would be White, formerly known as Thunder while at Southern California.
"He doesn't care, though," Smith said.
