One particular player on the Chartiers-Houston football team said he is commonly asked a question that, without knowing his name, comes off as being a bit bizarre.
“Dude, before games, do you go into a phone booth and get dressed?,” said player stated.
The player in question believes he actually has been in a phone booth once, just not to put on his jersey and pads. Prior to games, he gets dressed in the locker room just like the rest of his teammates.
And while that question he often is asked might sound strange, it quickly becomes an obvious — and super — one when you find out the player’s name is Klark Kent.
Kent is a junior who plays wide receiver and linebacker at Chartiers-Houston. He also has one of the most unique names in WPIAL football. Kent is not alone, though, as the area has an abundance of players who are “No average Joes.” Whether it’s their first name, last name or a combination of both, these players stick out like New Castle’s Hamlet Gamez attending a play written by Shakespeare. The stories behind the names are typically interesting and oftentimes entertaining.
Not to spoil the fun, but this Klark Emmett Kent kid from Chartiers-Houston isn’t actually Superman. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t referred to as Superman often. He said his coaches started calling him that his freshman season. And when he started his job at Buffalo Wild Wings, a manager wrote down “Superman” on his name tag.
Kent was named Klark because of Superman. He said his father wanted him to have a unique name, and Klark Kent is certainly that.
“My dad, apparently ever since he was young, wanted to name his kid after Superman or some sort of superhero. And he always liked Klark,” Klark Kent explained.
As you might expect, Kent’s favorite superhero is Superman, although he does like Batman, Ironman and Spider-Man, too. He said he dressed up as Superman for Halloween when he was 3 or 4 years old.
Klark Kent was named after a character in a comic book, while Burrell’s Hobbes Omecinski was named after a character from a comic strip.
“My parents grew up in the 90s and my dad was a big fan of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes,” said Omecinski, a sophomore who plays quarterback and linebacker.
In the comic strip, Calvin is an adventurous 6-year-old boy who is friends with a witty tiger named Hobbes. Omecinski said that comics aren’t his thing, but that he does own a few Calvin and Hobbes comic strip books that he keeps in a drawer in his bedroom.
This Hobbes said that most people assume that Hobbes isn’t his actual first name.
“Almost every time I meet somebody new, they ask if it’s my real name or a nickname,” Omecinski said.
Hobbes does have a brother, but his name isn’t Calvin. It’s Abel.
Hobbes said he likes his name and just rolls with it, something that can also be said about the teen who shares the same name as the “King of Rock and Roll.”
Elvis Koutsakis is a freshman at Gateway who had an impressive rookie season as the team’s starting quarterback. Elvis embraces his name, evidenced by his handle on X (Twitter) — @KingElvis_jr. As that handle indicates, this isn’t the first Elvis in the family.
“I’m a junior. My grandmother was a really big fan of Elvis when my dad was growing up, so she gave him the name,” said Koutsakis, whose middle name is Kostantinos.
Koutsakis said that it’s common that people ask about his name, and that there’s a certain line that he gets often — “Elvis is in the building.”
“A couple of times when I was younger, people said to me, ‘You must be able to sing, too,’” Koutsakis remembers, “but that’s definitely not a trait that I have.”
This Elvis said that while he does like some songs from the legendary singer, it’s not his artist or genre of choice. He said he’s a big fan of the rapper Drake.
While Koutsakis was named after a singer who had a movie made about him a few years ago, Yough’s Cosmo Young got his name from a character in a legendary television show.
“I was named after the character from Seinfeld,” said Young, a freshman who has a sister named Caliope.
That’s right, Cosmo Young was named after Cosmo Kramer, the popular Seinfield character who was often seen hanging out with George, Jerry and Elaine.
Cosmo Young said that while he has watched a couple of Seinfeld episodes, he’s not a huge fan of the show. But when asked who his favorite character is, it didn’t take him long to give an answer.
“Cosmo Kramer, of course,” Young said.
Young is a linebacker, the same position played by Mount Pleasant junior Rage Suchar. And really, with that first name, it was almost like he was born to play the position.
“When I get on the field, I go into a different mode, so I think it fits me pretty well,” said Suchar, who also plays running back.
Suchar, whose middle name is Anthony, said that he was given the name Rage because it caught the eyes of his parents as they were looking through names in a baby book.
“My dad likes to joke around that when I make it to college I can get endorsements,” Suchar said with a laugh.
The name Rage might be uncommon, but this teen from Mount Pleasant doesn’t hold the title of most unique name held by a WPIAL linebacker. That honor would likely go to Highlands freshman Achilles Anger-Youngblood.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s start with the first name. Achilles said he was named after the famous warrior and hero in the Greek army during the Trojan War.
“I love my name. Just being named after someone who was a warrior, that’s given me that drive,” Achilles said.
This 15-year-old old truly embraces his name. One look at his left arm will tell you as much. He has a tattoo sleeve that includes Greek Gods Poseidon and Zeus.
Achilles isn’t the only member of his family with a name derived from Greek mythology. He has a brother named Adonis.
As for Anger-Youngblood, Anger is his grandfather’s last name and Youngblood his grandmother’s last name.
Speaking with him, Anger-Youngblood comes across as being a nice kid, but that’s not to say the “Anger” half of his last name doesn’t come out from time to time.
“Only on the football field,” he said.
Seton LaSalle has a pair of brothers who are relatively new to the football field, and as far as first names go, there might not be a better brotherly duo in the WPIAL than Legend and Legacy Williams.
Legend is a junior running back-linebacker and Legacy a freshman lineman. The two live in Carrick. Neither played football prior to their freshman seasons.
So, why such strong names?
“My dad said he had high expectations for me,” Legend said. “And he said he wanted my brother to carry on his legacy.”
Legend said that people ask him about his name all of the time, and that sometimes folks will say, “The man, the myth, the legend.” This Legend might not be an actual legend yet, but he’s working on it. In addition to playing football, he’s involved with student council and is 10th grade class president.
Legend loves his name, likewise with Legacy, who said, “I think it’s a cool name. I wouldn’t want to change my name for anything else.”
But with a name like Legend, does this Legend feel like he has a lot to live up to?
“Not at all,” he said “I don’t think my name dictates who I am as a person. My name could have been anything else, and I’d still be the same person.”
Seneca Valley has a player with the same name as a Hall of Fame quarterback who hails from Pittsburgh. Dan Marino is a senior who plays running back and safety.
This Marino used to go by Daniel, but just about everyone now calls him Dan.
“Every time I meet a person it’s like, ‘Are you related to him,’” Marino said.
It turns out that he’s not, but he did say that it would be cool to meet the NFL great someday.
“I didn’t see him play and didn’t see his highlights, but I know he was really good,” Seneca Valley’s Dan Marino said. “But he didn’t win a Super Bowl.”
However, neither has this Marino’s favorite NFL quarterback, Lamar Jackson. And wouldn’t you know, there’s a Lamar Jackson who plays at Valley. This Lamar is a sophomore who plays wide receiver and linebacker.
“People always say, ‘Is this THE Lamar Jackson,” Jackson said.
It turns out that Lamar Jackson is Lamar Jackson’s favorite quarterback.
“I like his game and I like his play style,” he said.
In fact, it’s the Ravens, and not the Steelers, that is teenage Lamar’s favorite team.
There are so many other great names out there in the world of WPIAL football, as well.
With the election coming up next week, West Mifflin’s Alexander Hamilton and Burrell’s Lincoln Shoemaker both deserve to be mentioned.
There might not be a cooler player to hang out with than Riverside’s Joe Chill. California’s Welcome Wood would likely welcome that friendship. They might need to keep the chatter to a minimum if they worked together, though, especially if Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Boss was nearby.
No matter the uniqueness of their names, most of the players interviewed for this story said they aren’t just fond of them, but they cherish them. Their names stick out in a big way, help break the ice when meeting someone new, and sometimes even bring cool nicknames that will likely stick with them for life.
“People always say, ‘That’s Superman right there! Or that’s Klark Kent!’” Kent said. “It’s a cool thing, and not something that would happen if I had a common name.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.
