Want to know how Indiana wideout Mister Elias De'Angelo Philyor got his nickname?
It's a Whopper of a story.
The current NFL Draft hopeful had enough of the Burger King kid's menu at age six, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. He begged and pleaded for the same order as his father: a Whopper with cheese.
When dad finally relented, Mister ate the whole thing. That's how he became "Whop" Philyor.
Mister's flame-grilled alias took some initial getting used to. He told Weinfuss he usually has to repeat it two or three times when he meets someone new.
His Hoosiers head coach, Tom Allen, laughed when he first heard it. Some Bloomington classmates thought he was named after a viral dance. A few others thought he was using an ethnic slur.
"I'd be like, 'No, it's not spelled that way,'" Philyor said. "I ain't gonna lie. College was probably the most frustrating part of me telling my name because teachers would be like, 'Whop?' Yeah, that's my name. Sorry, that's my name."
That fact soon sunk in for everyone, especially opposing defensive backs. Philyor snagged 124 passes for 1,497 yards in his final two seasons at Indiana, including an 18-catch performance in the Outback Bowl.
The jumbotron at Whop's final collegiate game told scouts exactly where that nickname came from.
"I just felt like (the name) sticks with me, like it's me," the receiver told Weinfuss. "Because my real name is Mister, like, who wants to be called Mister growing up?
"I've never heard anybody with the name Whop. So I'm like, 'Man, I'ma just go by this. I like this. It's different.'"
