Mr. Irrelevant

Mr. Irrelevant is the title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft. Although the NFL Draft dates back to 1936, the first person to officially be given the "Mr. Irrelevant" title was Kelvin Kirk, pick number 487 of the 1976 draft. The current Mr. Irrelevant is cornerback Kalan Reed, formerly of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles football, who was selected by the Tennessee Titans as pick number 253 of the 2016 draft.

Irrelevant Week

"Irrelevant Week" arose in 1976, when former Southern California and NFL receiver Paul Salata founded the event in Newport Beach, California. He continues to announce the final pick of the NFL draft to this day; however, in 2014 his daughter announced the pick in his absence. During the summer after the draft, the new Mr. Irrelevant and his family are invited to spend a week in Newport Beach, California, 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.

"Irrelevant Week" gave so much publicity to "Mr. Irrelevant" that in 1979 the Los Angeles Rams, with the penultimate pick, intentionally passed to let the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the last pick, choose first. The Steelers also wanted the publicity and passed as well. The two teams continued to refuse to choose a player until NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle forced the teams to pick. The incident led to the "Salata Rule", which prohibits teams from passing to get the final pick.^[1]

Notable "winners"

Since the NFL draft was cut to its current seven-round format in 1994, players presented with this dubious honor have more often succeeded in making the team that drafted them, with significant contributions on the field.

• 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.
• Mike Green played a significant role in the Chicago Bears secondary in the 2000s, and played from 2000 to 2008.
• Jim Finn was a fullback for the New York Giants on their victory in Super Bowl XLII. Prior to the 2007 season, Finn was placed on the Injured Reserve, and never played a game for the Giants on their road to the Super Bowl, having been replaced by Madison Hedgecock. Prior to 2007, he had been the Giants fullback for four seasons.
• 2008 winner David Vobora was a starting linebacker for the St. Louis Rams during the 2009 season.
• 2009 winner Ryan Succop became the starting kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. He 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. Succop was awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award that year.^[2] He has been the starting kicker since his rookie season making 81.5% of his field goals and a perfect 100% on extra points. Succop moved on to the Tennessee Titans for the 2014 season.

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 College. Walker was the first pick in the 1967 NBA Draft, and opted for a career in the NBA.^[3]

Mr. Irrelevant "winners" and other final selections

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Name	Team	Position	College
1936	9	9	81	Flanagan, PhilPhil Flanagan	Giants	G	Holy Cross
1937	10	10	100	Holt, SolonSolon Holt	Rams	G	TCU
1938	12	10	110	Dreher, FerdFerd Dreher	Bears	E	Denver
1939	22	5	200	Rhodes, JackJack Rhodes	Giants	G	Texas
1940	22	5	200	Claxton, MyronMyron Claxton	Giants	T	Whittier
1941	22	2	204	Landsberg, MortMort Landsberg	Steelers	B	Cornell
1942	22	5	200	Clarkson, StuStu Clarkson	Bears	C	Texas A&I
1943	32	5	300	Bogovich, BoBo Bogovich	Redskins	G	Delaware
1944	32	6	330	Roberts, WaltonWalton Roberts	Yanks	B	Texas
1945	32	6	330	Aldridge, Billy JoeBilly Joe Aldridge	Packers	B	Oklahoma A&M
1946	32	5	300	West, JohnJohn West	Rams	B	Oklahoma
1947	32	7	300	Clayton, DonDon Clayton	Giants	B	North Carolina
1948	32	7	300	Fischer, BillBill Fischer	Cardinals	G	Notre Dame
1949	25	10	251	Schweder, John (Bull)John (Bull) Schweder	Eagles	G	Pennsylvania
1950	30	13	391	Parker, DudDud Parker	Eagles	B	Baylor
1951	30	11	362	Averno, SistoSisto Averno	Browns	G	Muhlenberg
1952	30	11	360	Saban, JohnJohn Saban	Browns	B	Xavier
1953	30	11	360	Maus, HalHal Maus	Lions	E	Montana
1954	30	11	360	Horton, EllisEllis Horton	Lions	B	Eureka (IL)
1955	30	11	360	Leachman, LamarLamar Leachman	Browns	C	Tennessee
1956	30	11	360	Bartholomew, BobBob Bartholomew	Browns	T	Wake Forest
1957	30	11	360	Gest, DonDon Gest	Giants	E	Washington State
1958	30	11	360	Bronson, TommyTommy Bronson	Lions	B	Tennessee
1959	30	12	360	Weese, BlairBlair Weese	Colts	B	West Virginia Tech
1960	20	12	240	Gorman, BillBill Gorman	Giants	T	McMurry
1961	20	14	280	MacKinnon, JacqueJacque MacKinnon	Eagles	B	Colgate
1962	20	14	280	Snodgrass, MikeMike Snodgrass	Packers	C	Western Michigan
1963	20	14	280	Brezina, BobbyBobby Brezina	Packers	B	Houston
1964	20	14	280	Niglio, DickDick Niglio	Bears	RB	Yale
1965	20	14	280	Haffner, GeorgeGeorge Haffner	Colts	QB	McNeese State
1966	20	15	305	Carr, TomTom Carr	Colts	T	Morgan State
1967	17	26	445	Walker, JimmyJimmy Walker	Saints	WR	Providence
1968	17	27	462	Smith, JimmyJimmy Smith	Bengals	TE	Jackson State
1969	17	26	442	Zirkie, FredFred Zirkie	Jets	DT	Duke
1970	17	26	442	Jenkins, RayfordRayford Jenkins	Chiefs	DB	Alcorn A&M
1971[lower-alpha 1]	17	26	442	Hill, CharlesCharles Hill	Raiders	WR	Sam Houston State
1972	17	26	442	Cain, AlphonsoAlphonso Cain	Cowboys	DT	Bethune-Cookman
1973	17	26	442	Wade, CharlesCharles Wade	Dolphins	WR	Tennessee State
1974	17	26	442	Dickerson, KenKen Dickerson	Dolphins	DB	Tuskegee
1975	17	26	442	Hegener, StanStan Hegener	Steelers	G	Nebraska
1976	17	28	487	Kirk, KelvinKelvin Kirk	Steelers	WR	Dayton
1977	12	27	335	Kelleher, JimJim Kelleher	Vikings	RB	Colorado
1978	12	28	334	Washburn, LeeLee Washburn	Cowboys	G	Montana State
1979	12	27	330	Almond, MikeMike Almond	Steelers	WR	Northwestern State
1980	12	28	333	McGriff, TyroneTyrone McGriff	Steelers	G	Florida A&M
1981	12	28	332	Nelson, PhilPhil Nelson	Raiders	TE	Delaware
1982	12	28	334	Washington, TimTim Washington	49ers	DB	Fresno State
1983	12	28	335	Tuggle, JohnJohn Tuggle	Giants	RB	California
1984	12	28	336	Essington, RandyRandy Essington	Raiders	QB	Colorado
1985	12	28	336	Chumley, DonaldDonald Chumley	49ers	DT	Georgia
1986	12	28	333	Travis, MikeMike Travis	Chargers	DB	Georgia Tech
1987	12	28	335	Jefferson, NormanNorman Jefferson	Packers	DB	LSU
1988	12	28	333	Beathard, JeffJeff Beathard	Rams	WR	Southern Oregon
1989	12	28	335	Ross, EverettEverett Ross	Vikings	WR	Ohio State
1990	12	27	331	Davis, DemetriusDemetrius Davis	Raiders	TE	Nevada
1991	12	28	334	Wanke, LarryLarry Wanke	Giants	QB	John Carroll
1992	12	28	336	Elliott, MattMatt Elliott	Redskins	C	Michigan
1993	8	28	224	Alcorn, DaronDaron Alcorn	Buccaneers	K	Akron
1994	7	28	222	Moore, MartyMarty Moore	Patriots	LB	Kentucky
1995	7	41	249	Reed, MichaelMichael Reed	Panthers	DB	Boston College
1996	7	45	254	Manuel, SamSam Manuel	49ers	LB	New Mexico State
1997	7	39	240	McAda, RonnieRonnie McAda	Packers	QB	Army
1998	7	52	241	Quayle, CamCam Quayle	Ravens	TE	Weber State
1999	7	47	253	Finn, JimJim Finn	Bears	RB	Pennsylvania
2000	7	48	254	Green, MichaelMichael Green	Bears	DB	Northwestern State
2001	7	46	246	Ofahengaue, TevitaTevita Ofahengaue	Cardinals	TE	Brigham Young
2002	7	50	261	Miller, AhmadAhmad Miller	Texans	DT	UNLV
2003	7	48	262	Hoag, RyanRyan Hoag	Raiders	WR	Gustavus Adolphus
2004	7	54	255	Sommersell, AndreAndre Sommersell	Raiders	LB	Colorado State
2005	7	41	255	Stokes, AndyAndy Stokes	Patriots	TE	William Penn
2006	7	47	255	McMahan, KevinKevin McMahan	Raiders	WR	Maine
2007	7	45	255	Robinson, RamzeeRamzee Robinson	Lions	CB	Alabama
2008	7	45	252	Vobora, DavidDavid Vobora	Rams	OLB	Idaho
2009	7	47	256	Succop, RyanRyan Succop	Chiefs	K	South Carolina
2010	7	48	255	Toone, TimTim Toone	Lions	WR	Weber State
2011	7	53	254	Ozougwu, ChetaCheta Ozougwu	Texans	DE	Rice
2012	7	46	253	Harnish, ChandlerChandler Harnish	Colts	QB	NIU
2013	7	48	254	Cunningham, JusticeJustice Cunningham	Colts	TE	South Carolina
2014	7	41	256	Ballentine, LonnieLonnie Ballentine	Texans	S	Memphis
2015	7	39	256	Christian, GeraldGerald Christian	Cardinals	TE	Louisville
2016	7	32	253	Reed, KalanKalan Reed	Titans[lower-alpha 2]	CB	Southern Miss

Notes

1. Although some contemporary sources list Don Nottingham, who had a seven-year career in the NFL, as the last pick of this draft, the Oakland Raiders passed when their time came to pick in the last round and wound up choosing last.
2. Non-compensatory pick, pick traded from the Denver Broncos to the Tennessee Titans prior to selection.

See also

• List of first overall National Football League draft picks
• Undrafted sportsperson

References

1. Merron, Jeff (2005-04-18). "The strangest NFL draft moments". ESPN. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
2. http://kcchiefs.com/news/2010/01/05/rb_jamaal_charles_voted_derrick_thomas_award_winner_k_ryan_succop_wins_mack_lee_hill_award/|Succop Wins Mack Lee Hill Award
3. May, Peter (2007-07-03). "Providence hoops legend Jimmy Walker dies at 63". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-08-08.

External links

• Homepage for "Irrelevant Week" and the current "Mr. Irrelevant"
• Woman sets her scandalous eyes on next Mr. Irrelevant