What's in a name? Well, flattery

Give Eric Mangini the Suck-up of the Year Award.

The Jets coach named his newborn Zack Brett Mangini after his new quarterback, Brett Favre.

The child was born Friday on Favre’s 39th birthday, but Mangini promised to use “Brett” as his middle name in the summer when he was trying to convince Favre to come to New York.

"That was locked and loaded in the negotiations," Mangini told The Associated Press, "but we couldn't have planned that if we wanted to. Pretty exciting."

Yeah. Pretty exciting. Wow.

The purpose of the name obviously was to flatter Favre, and obviously it worked.

"It is a pretty cool thing," the quarterback said.

Yeah. Cool.

Mangini’s first son’s middle name is Harrison, after New England safety Rodney Harrison. Another son has a middle name of William after Patriots coach Bill Belichick, for whom Mangini once worked.

"Well, the history behind that," Mangini said, "is all my kids have middle names that are related to people that have been important to me in my football career."

Wow. Neat.

I remember a time when kids were named for apostles or presidents or members of one's own family. But then I’m old. Very, very old.