Denver Broncos RB Tyler Badie sets the record straight on how to pronounce his name

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Tyler Badie went from being cut by the Denver Broncos to a household name in Broncos Country in just over a month.

Part of what helped him become a household name, along with his outstanding play, was the new pronunciation of his name by the Fox broadcast in the Broncos’ 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

“Buh-DAY” is how the Fox broadcasters referred to him. However, there is a video from Jan. 8, 2023 of him pronouncing it as “Bay-dee.”

He settled that officially on Wednesday afternoon after the Broncos wrapped up their first practice at The Greenbrier in West Virginia.

“Buh-DAY,” he said, with a laugh. “Let’s get it out of the way.”

So did Tyler himself mispronounce his own name just over 18 months ago? Of course not.

“I actually changed it myself,” Badie said, revealing he changed the pronunciation of his last name. “There’s some other things going on, some family things that I’ll talk about later on. But right now, I’m just trying to focus on football now.”

A source told DNVR this pronunciation change happened last week, right before his breakout performance against the Buccaneers where the third-year back exploded for a team-high 70 rushing yards on a team-high nine carries.

“There were some other things going on, but it’s Buh-DAY now,” he said.

Along with a new pronunciation, Badie also has a new role with the Broncos. A much bigger role.

On Wednesday morning, Badie was informed he was promoted to the Broncos’ 53-man roster from the practice squad.

“He played great Sunday,” Bo Nix stated, talking about Badie’s promotion. “He provides extra depth for us at back. He’s just another one of those guys in the backfield that can provide explosive plays. We’re happy to get him and continue his production.”

Among the three healthy running backs on the team currently, Badie’s 10 rushing attempts is the fewest. Javonte Williams has 24 rushing attempts and Jaleel McLaughlin has 18 attempts.

Despite that, Badie leads the running back room in rushing yards by a significant margin. Badie has 86 rushing yards on an impressive 8.6 yards per carry, while Williams and McLaughlin are each averaging 2.2 yards per carry and only have 52 rushing yards and 40 rushing yards, respectively.

“We’ll see,” Sean Payton said, when asked what Badie’s role will be against the New York Jets. “He’ll be kind of—we’ve taken three [running] backs to a game and we’ll kind of continue to mix up the roles based on what we’re doing.”

“He’s been really decisive,” Payton added. “He’s had some big runs for us. He’s smart. He knows the system. He’s good in the passing game, he brings a lot.”

Broncos Country will have to wait until Sunday to see if Badie has an expanded role in Payton’s offense. But they don’t have to wait to know how to pronounce his name.