GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) 鈥� The Green Bay Packers’ starting right tackle is changing his name from Zach Tom to Zach Bako-Bewele as a way of paying tribute to his Nigerian ancestry.
Bako-Bewele told reporters Sunday that Bako is the last name of his father鈥檚 mother and Bewele is the last name of his father鈥檚 father. He said the process toward changing his name began around March of this year.
鈥淛ust doing some research, talking to my dad a little bit, I wanted to have a name that represented where I came from, my ancestry, just get back to my roots,鈥� the 2022 fourth-round pick from Wake Forest said.
Bako-Bewele said he had been thinking about doing this for a few years, 鈥減robably back since college at least.鈥� He started researching it more this offseason.
鈥淓specially when I start having kids and stuff, I want to have a name that I can pass down where it represents where they came from, where I came from,鈥� Bako-Bewele said. 鈥淚 just feel like that name will, people will see that name and have a good understanding of who I am, where i come from.鈥�
He鈥檚 still going through all the various steps involved in this type of decision.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to get like a new social security card, new driver鈥檚 license, all that stuff,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 still not technically finalized yet, but we鈥檙e right there.鈥�
Bako-Bewele has been Green Bay鈥檚 starting right tackle since 2023. He has been working his way back this offseason while recovering from surgery to a partially torn patellar tendon that limited him to 12 games last season.
He said Sunday that he hopes to start participating in team drills 鈥渨ithin a week or so.鈥�
___
AP NFL:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
