How a clever nickname helped Kansas State’s offensive line become unusually popular
Offensive line can be a thankless position for many college football teams.
It’s rare for casual fans to know all five starters by name and it’s difficult for blockers to stand out in a positive way. Anyone who lines up in the trenches will tend to get more attention for missing an assignment or being called for a penalty than sending a defender to the ground with a pancake block.
Cooper Beebe can empathize with any offensive lineman who feels ignored or undervalued. He has been there. But the senior left guard doesn’t have much advice to offer to his peers at the moment. The only thing he can really say is ... try playing for Kansas State.
In Manhattan, the Wildcats’ offensive line has become unusually popular. With all five starters, plus Taylor Poitier, returning for the 2023 season they are the opposite of token big dudes that go unnoticed by their fans.
Case in point: K-State’s top six offensive linemen recently teamed up with Charlie Hustle for a T-shirt that features all of them along with the nicknames “K-State BEEF” and “Manhandlers of Manhattan.”
Fans purchased the shirt in droves. It sold out in hours.
“It is kind of funny just how much the brand has skyrocketed,” Beebe said. “It’s awesome to see people saying, ‘We need to get new shirts’ or ‘We need to get more shirts because we’re running out.’ It’s awesome to feel the love for a unit that usually gets the brunt of the blow.”
That’s not the only NIL deal that K-State offensive linemen participated in during the offseason. After the entire group announced it was coming back, donors lined up to strike sponsorship deals. Senior center Haydem Gillum was asked to star in a commercial for Applebee’s. Beebe and Gillum both appeared with quarterback Will Howard in a commercial for Cat Cans. They all made public appearances.
Beebe, who was recently named a preseason All-American by the Associated Press, spoke about the rising popularity of K-State’s offensive line while wearing a hat that also displayed the unit’s “BEEF” nickname.
No one is quite sure where the “BEEF” nickname originated. Senior center Hayden Gillum suggests that Hayden Wall, a former offensive graduate assistant, may have first coined the term. Regardless of how it started, it has become a hit.
The five starters on K-State’s offensive line (KT Leveston, Hadley Panzer, Christian Duffie, Beebe and Gillum) like it because three of them are from the Sunflower State and some of them grew up on farms that were filled with cattle.
“It just started with the Kansas boys inside,” Gillum said, “and then the rest of the offensive line decided to take that identity and run with it. I think it’s good. I grew up as a beef producer, so it’s double the market.”
Little did they know those four letters would take on a life of their own as their popularity grew.
“I love the BEEF, man,” Howard said. “It’s awesome, because those guys are the heartbeat of this football team. I’m telling you, we don’t go anywhere without those guys ... The way they lead is cool to see, because they’ve all been through a lot.
“They’ve all been here for a long, long time and they’re a group of gritty guys. I’m so glad that they’re getting the publicity they should because we wouldn’t be anything without them.”