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NY Jets players hilariously try to pronounce North Jersey cities

People who live in North Jersey may have an advantage when it comes to pronouncing some of the trickiest cities, but for New York Jets players who grew up in other states, trying to pronounce those oft-mispronounced cities can be downright hilarious.

Hop-A-cong? Hop-IT-cong? hopscotch?

Cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers, the Jets’ fifth-round draft pick who figures to have a bright future, narrowed his eyes slightly and raised an eyebrow as he attempted to pronounce the Sussex County borough in a video the NFL team posted to its official TikTok and Facebook pages on Monday. To be fair, Stiggers grew up in Atlanta.

The video, which has been viewed more than 55,300 times on TikTok alone, provided a minute and a half of pure entertainment for North Jersey residents, many of whom took to the comments to express their delight at having their hometowns mentioned. Others laughed at the players’ complete slaughter of some of North Jersey’s hardest-to-name towns.

Let’s see how the players did. Could you pronounce these cities correctly?

Hopatcong (Sussex County)

“Hop-a-cong?” asked Virginia native Tyrod Taylor, a veteran quarterback who signed in March and will serve as a backup to Aaron Rogers. He later dropped the name altogether, opting instead for “H-town. The Jersey one.”

South Carolina native John Simpson, a promising underdog who could revolutionize the Jets’ O-line, has seemingly created a whole new city in the state, comically pronouncing the suburb “Ho-pat-chung” before saying “Ho-pat… Ho-pat-CONGUH.”

But in the end, it was Stiggers who decided his statement was correct. He jokingly said, “Hop-scotch.”

Hopatcong police quickly came to the rescue with a Facebook story Tuesday morning. They posted the Jets’ video with some added context: “Say it with us… Huh-pat-kaang,” followed by a little encouragement: “Good job guys,” and added a tear-of-joy emoji.

Parsippany (Morris County)

When it came time to pronounce Parsippany, Simpson hit the nail on the head. He named the Morris County city with ease. He said he’d “seen this on my GPS a couple times.”

But teammate Stiggers, a top rookie in the Canadian Football League before being drafted by the Jets in April, had a harder time, trying to say the word phonetically several times before being corrected.

Stiggers seemed to be on the right track when he stuttered out “Parsip…” before picking up the thread again, but then things went downhill and he said, with a shrug, “Par-SEE-pipp-any?”

Woof. For the record, Parsippany is pronounced “Par-SIPP-a-nee,” although some out-of-towners tend to emphasize the wrong syllables and pronounce it “PAR-si-PAN-nee” instead.

When Stiggers heard the correct pronunciation, he immediately said, “Parsippany. That’s what I said.”

The names Parsippany and Hopatcong are believed to come from the Lenape Native American sub-tribe, with the term “parseponong” meaning “where the waters meet,” according to the township’s historical society. While the origins of Hopatcong are unclear, it may be derived from the word “hapakonoesson,” meaning pipestone, which could be interpreted from the soapstone found in the area that was used in pipe making, according to the township’s website. It could also be a reference to the jagged shape of Lake Hopatcong’s shoreline, the township said.

Manalapan (Monmouth County)

Manalapan in Monmouth County also presented quite a challenge for the players, with cornerback Isaiah Oliver, a veteran who signed with the team in March, admitting, “That’s a good one.” The teammates struggled with the tough township, with Simpson offering “MAN-a-LAPE-in” and Stiggers choosing “MAN-a-LAP-in,” joking “I’m from Jersey” before admitting he wasn’t.

In the end, it was Taylor who got it right: “Ma-NAL-a-pin.”

Ronkonkoma (Long Island) and Poughkeepsie (New York)

These places can be more difficult even for North Jersey residents because they are not often visited or heard of.

Not surprisingly, Ronkonkoma was a tricky name for the players. Oliver tried to pronounce it phonetically, “Ron-con-coma,” and Braelon Allen, a starting running back and Wisconsin native who was drafted in the fourth round by the Jets, tried it a few different ways, including “Ron-cu-coma.”

“How do you start?” Taylor asked, trying to explain it in different ways.

For the sake of completeness, it is pronounced “Ruhng-kaang-kuh-muh.”

Poughkeepsie, a city and village in Dutchess County, also posed a mystery to players. Simpson clarified, “It’s not ‘PUG,’ it’s PO-keep-see?”

Allen had a unique way of pronouncing it. He started with “Pa… Pa-cup-see.. Pa-cup” and then started with “Poo…” and then he burst out laughing.

For those who remember, it’s pronounced “Puh-kip-see.”

The Jets media team had a little fun Monday as the team prepared for the first day of training camp practice, which was held Wednesday at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park. The team will have practices through Aug. 21, with several open to the public. While several are sold out, free tickets are being made available for practices on Aug. 7, 8, 13, 20 and 21. The team’s first preseason game against the Washington Commanders is scheduled for Aug. 10 at MetLife Stadium.

Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or on Facebook.