“It’s funny because I didn’t know, my dad probably knows his nickname (Gervin) was that,” Williams told Front Office Sports this week. “It’s nothing between me and George or anything like that, it’s more or less people making clothes or stuff like that, and I can’t control what people make of me or anything like that and name it. So it’s just to control that aspect. That was the main reason for doing it.”
Last week, it was reported that a company called “Caleb Williams Holding, Inc.” filed four trademarks in March related to “Iceman.” According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Bears quarterback filed the trademark so he could sell goods and services using the phrase.
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Days later, Gervin Interests LLC registered the trademarks for “Iceman” and “Iceman 44,” a reference to Gervin’s jersey number.
Caleb Williams feels the “Iceman” nickname fits him well, even though NBA great George Gervin had the nickname first. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
While Gervin was known as “Iceman” long before Williams, his late trademark registration was due to confusion over “the death of a business partner,” Gervin Global Management President and CEO Jerald Barisano told the Sun-Times.
The whole situation didn’t sit well with Gervin, 73, who told the newspaper that while he respects Williams, the “Iceman” nickname “is taken.”
Williams, for his part, said he has no ill will toward Gervin and hopes to speak with the NBA legend at some point.
“It’s all about respect for George,” Williams said. “I didn’t know it personally, and I understand, maybe what he’s trying to do. We haven’t talked, him and I, and we might talk at some point, but it was nothing between George and me.”
Williams also has no plans to withdraw his trademark applications, saying that while he didn’t like the nickname at first, he now feels like it “fits.”
“It’s the right nickname, the right nickname, so I think it fits. Chicago is an incredibly cold place for many, many months of the year,” Williams said. “I think it fits. My teammates started calling me that, and that became a whole thing, whether it was social media or the media side, and obviously it started with my teammates.”
It will probably be months before the issue is resolved and the “Iceman” brand is awarded. Gervin, however, said he plans to challenge the decision if Williams receives the mark.
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“I’m really the ‘iceman’ in sports,” Gervin told the Sun-Times.