Arizona State lineman named after his father's favorite football player and team

Arizona State football offensive lineman Emmit Bohle is named after both an NFL great and a team.

It's a story Emmit's father, Al Bohle, shared.

Al Bohle says his son's first name is after former Dallas Cowboys great and NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.

Bohle and his wife Brandice were expecting a girl. They had names for a girl picked out but had not really considered boy names. When Emmit came into the world the couple had to consider other options. Emmit has two older brothers, Ethan and Elijah, so a name beginning with the letter "E" was preferred.

Emmit came up and both liked the idea. Then came the middle name. You wouldn't guess it by the first name, but Al Bohle is a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. But that's how much he respected Emmitt Smith, that he named his son after him despite having a rooting interest in a rival team.

Al Bohle wanted to give his son the middle name "Steelers" — something his wife nixed. She was OK with a shortened version of that in "Steel," which is Emmit's middle name.

Bohle, a 6-foot-7, 310-pounder from Selby, South Dakota, is in his seventh year of college football and his third at Arizona State. He started his college career at Division II Northern State University in South Dakota and transferred to ASU for the 2022 season. He missed all of the 2023 season after sustaining a broken leg in the second game of the year and was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State lineman named after his father's favorite football player and team