I have always been amused by the "Bert" meme as it relates to Bret Bielema. I once thought it was just a fun way to make fun of him, because Bert is a funny sounding word. It sounds sort of like derp, etc. But then, a few weeks ago, my wife and I watched Maverick on Netflix starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner. Gibson's character is Bret Maverick. He's one of those characters common to old western movies, a smooth talking, card player, who thinks he's a ladies man. Jodie Foster's character, Annabelle Blansford, is Maverick's female counterpart and con artist. "Mrs. Blansford" delights in pushing Bret Maverick's buttons and one of the buttons is by repeatedly calling him Bert instead of Bret. So this leads me to my questions. When did we start called Bielema "Bert?" And why is he so commonly known as Bert? Is it related to my initial hypothesis or does it come from the 1994 movie?