But the circumstances surrounding that game helped the nickname catch on.

Teddy Allen, a Louisiana Tech student working in the school's sports information department, is credited with originating the nickname that became popular during Malone's college career in the early 1980s. As Allen noted in a Shreveport Times column when Malone retired last year, his initial idea was the "Postman," because Malone played the post position. He quickly modified it to "Mailman," which went better with "Malone."

The game that solidified the nickname came when the Bulldogs traveled to the school now called Louisiana-Monroe, where Malone performed well in a postponed contest and Allen's news release described him as "coming through despite rain and sleet and snow."