MINNEAPOLIS -- Whether his arrival in the NFL is a product of opportunistic marketing, shrewd scouting or some combination of both, German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer's sixth-round selection by the Minnesota Vikings has certainly attracted plenty of attention.
Now, apparently, all that attention should beget a slew of corrections, because we've all been spelling the receiver's name wrong.
The NFL announced Wednesday it will allow the Vikings rookie to spell his name as "Böhringer" on the back of his jersey, making him one of the few NFL players with a special character on his nameplate (Redskins receiver Pierre Garçon is another).
The "oe" in Boehringer's name is an Americanized version of the surname, to make up for the fact there is no umlaut in the English alphabet. (Technically, the author of this post has a similar construction to his last name.)
If he's going to be marketable in Germany, though, it probably makes sense for Böhringer to have the correct German spelling of his last name on his back. Those replica jerseys should move a little quicker overseas with the umlaut in place.
