Mr. Irrelevant
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"Mr. Irrelevant" is the title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft.
Irrelevant Week
The name arose in 1976, when former Southern California and NFL receiver Paul Salata founded "Irrelevant Week" in Newport Beach, California. Salata announces the final draft pick during the NFL draft. During the summer after the NFL draft, the new Mr. Irrelevant and his family are invited to spend a week in Newport, where they enjoy a golf tournament, a regatta, a roast giving advice to the new draftee, and a ceremony awarding him the Lowsman Trophy. The trophy mimics the Heisman, but depicts a player fumbling a football.
The first Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk, picked number 487 of the 1976 draft. The current Mr. Irrelevant is kicker Ryan Succop of the University of South Carolina, pick number 256 of the 2009 draft. He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Notable "winners"
Several players who have been presented with this dubious honor have nevertheless succeeded in making the team that drafted them, with significant contributions on the field.
- Bill Kenney, who won the 1978 Mr. Irrelevant award under special circumstances (see below), was even honored with an invitation to the Pro Bowl in 1983.
- Special teams player Marty Moore became the first Mr. Irrelevant to play in a Super Bowl, with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
- Jim Finn was the starting fullback for the New York Giants.
- 2008 winner David Vobora is a starting linebacker for the St. Louis Rams beginning in the 2009 season.
- 2009 winner Ryan Succop became the starting kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, and kicked the winning field goal to beat the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers on November 22, 2009. Succop went on to tie the NFL record for highest field goal percentage by a rookie in a season with 86.2%, and also passed NFL Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud for most field goals made by a rookie in Chiefs history. He was awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award that year.[1]
One "Mr. Irrelevant" (who actually predated the award by nearly a decade) went on to a productive professional career in another sport. Jimmy Walker was the final pick in 1967 despite never having played college football. His main sport, however, was basketball, in which he was a consensus All-American and the nation's leading scorer as a senior at Providence. Walker was the first overall pick in the 1967 NBA Draft, and opted for a career in the NBA.[2]
Mr. Irrelevant winners and other final selections
Notes
- ^ http://kcchiefs.com/news/2010/01/05/rb_jamaal_charles_voted_derrick_thomas_award_winner_k_ryan_succop_wins_mack_lee_hill_award/%7CSuccop Wins Mack Lee Hill Award
- ^ May, Peter (2007-07-03). "Providence hoops legend Jimmy Walker dies at 63". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ There were two awardees, as Scanlon chose to play in the Canadian Football League and McGriff was named as a replacement.
- ^ Two Mr. Irrelevants resulted because original selection Washburn could not attend training camp because of a back injury. Kenney was named as a replacement as a result.