A school of Big Tunas

Everybody knows that Jim from The Office is nicknamed "Big Tuna" by Andy. Everybody does know that, right?

I was surprised when I heard during the Steelers game tonight that it's also the nickname of NFL coach Bill Parcells.

Andy calls Jim that because Jim ate a tuna sandwich on his first day of work with Andy. Andy is not the brightest cat.

Parcells says he's called the "Big Tuna" because he once responded to a question with something resembling, "Who do you think I am? Charlie the Tuna?" Sports nicknames are also rarely based on some intelligent reason, mostly because people like John Madden come up with them. The "Big" part came in either from Parcells' size or his impact on the game (five current NFL coaches were once his assistant coach). Anyone who can retire three times from the same game has to have a Jordan-like impact on it.

Big Tuna is also an Israeli-made mockumentary from 2004. The largest Blue Fin Tuna ever caught was 1,496 pounds, caught off Nova Scotia in 1979.