What is CeeDee Lamb’s real name? Cowboys star follows long list of NFL players to change names

CeeDee Lamb has made a name for himself as one of the NFL’s best receivers despite it ironically not being the one he was born with.

The 25-year-old has dominated headlines in the build-up to the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 1 game away to the Cleveland Browns this weekend.

A contract standoff had seen Lamb skip all of training camp and thus rack up thousands of dollars in fines during fraught negotiations.

The Louisiana-born athlete was in line to become a free agent after the season as he remained on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal.

However, a breakthrough was finally made at the end of August as the Cowboys made Lamb the second-highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

The pair agreed terms on a $136million (£103.7m), four-year contract with $100m (£76m) guaranteed and a record-high $38m (£28.9m) signing bonus for a wide receiver.

But in signing the deal to become the highest-paid wide receiver in Cowboys’ history, Lamb inked documents that included a different name.

What is CeeDee Lamb’s real name?

The former Oklahoma standout was born Cedarian DeLeon Lamb.

The NFL is no stranger to players changing their names after being drafted, with an explosion of Sr., Jr., III, IV and V added to jerseys.

For some, it’s purely for cosmetic reasons while others see it more personally but Lamb’s nickname ‘CeeDee’ goes back to his youth.

In fact, he went by his given first name until his first football practice in fourth grade when he was nine years old.

His coach Darrick Reed tried out the nickname ‘DVD’ because of Lamb’s highlight-reel plays and soon that had become just ‘CD’.

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Over the years, the spelling was stretched out like the 6’2 star himself and became ‘CeeDee’, which is what is used by all but one to this day.

“I feel like CeeDee is what I am now,” Lamb said.

“Only my mom calls me that [‘Cedarian’]. She calls me that when she’s mad or when I’m in trouble. I like to keep it that way.”

Lamb will now be relishing the fact that he’s no longer in hot water with his team after committing his long-term future to the Cowboys.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy admitted ahead of the season opener that the 2020 draftee’s return will boost the morale of his team.

McCarthy said: “Not only with what he brings to the table, we’ve been talking about what he does with his production, but when that big smile he walks in the locker room, everybody’s going to be fired up because that’s the kind of juice.

“He brings, that’s that type of energy to our locker room.”