Lawrenceburg High School football player goes viral after college visit announcement

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — When high school football players post on social media about their college visits, they can only dream of the announcement making ESPN. But that's exactly what happened to one Lawrenceburg junior.

Outside linebacker Noah Knigga posted on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday morning about his upcoming visit to West Virginia University.

"I’ll be taking a visit to West Virginia on January 14th! Excited for the great opportunity," he wrote.

In less than 24 hours, the post had taken off. Not because of the announcement, but his last name.

"Announcers hoping he doesn't make a big play," one person said.

According to X, the post has been shared nearly 3,000 times and has 29 million views. It also got the attention of some big names in the football world.

Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III shared the post saying, "That Naysayer built the arc" — calling back to a viral "College GameDay" moment when Rece Davis' cohosts were worried he was going to say a racial slur on-air while explaining that the Alabama quarterback's brand "LANK" stands for "Let a Naysayer Know."

The tweet was also noticed by Pat McAfee, a former NFL kicker turned popular ESPN host. He and his cohosts talked about Knigga and his last name of Friday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show."

"Gotta say (his) name real quick ... first name, last name just kinda put it all in one," said McAfee, who only called Knigga by his first name.

Knigga responded to McAfee's commentary, saying on social media, "Thanks for the segment today @PatMcAfeeShow! The fun is just beginning, Noah Knaysayer!"

People who know high school football in Southern Indiana are probably familiar with Knigga's name. His father, Ryan, is both the athletic director and head football coach at Lawrenceburg.

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