Wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., who had an illustrious 16-year NFL career as a member of the Baltimore Ravens and the Carolina Panthers, definitely deserves to be immortalized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Smith retired from the NFL just last year, so many fans were surprised to find out that the 38-year-old's name already came up in the list of nominees for the Hall of Fame class of 2018. Apparently, the Steve Smith discovered on that list was not the Steve Smith fans were expecting.

Deadspin's Lauren Theisen shed a humorous light on this baffling ordeal, stating that it was a former New York Giants wide receiver of the same name who was nominated, and not the Steve Smith who's terrorized rookies and opposing defenders on and off the field.

Theisen noted that the other Smith finished his NFL career with 2,641 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, won a Super Bowl with the Giants in 2008, and led the NFC in receptions in 2009 which led to his one and only Pro Bowl selection. To compare: the recently retired Steve Smith had eight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, five Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro selections, and won Comeback Player of the Year in 2005 after leading the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. The only edge that the former Smith has over the latter is a Super Bowl ring.

Considering that the Giants' Smith is only a Hall of Fame nominee at this point, fans can take solace that this pretender will most likely be denied entry into Canton given his paltry body of work in the NFL.

The names “Steve” and “Smith” are both commonplace in the United States, let alone in professional sports. Perhaps that's another reason why the more decorated Smith added the “Sr.” suffix to his own name in 2014; to better distinguish himself from the rest of the Steve Smith pack, and not just pay homage to his son.

At least the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Selection Committee didn't make the mistake of nominating another wide receiver by the name of Steve Smith, who made his Arena Football League debut the same year that “Señor” began his NFL journey.