When it comes to being the last guy picked in the NFL Draft, the draftee gets 3 things:
1. A lifetime of being able to tell anyone in earshot—nephews, grocery baggers, flight attendants, whoever—that he was drafted to play pro ball.
2. The title of Mr. Irrelevant.
3. the Lowsman Trophy, intended to be the exact opposite of the Heisman Trophy
in 1976, a retired 49ers wide receiver named Paul Salata (who scored the team's last touchdown in the All-America Football Conference in 1949, and its first in the National Football League in 1950) invented the title and an entire celebration for the last man taken.
it’s not a negative to be picked last in the NFL Draft; rather, it’s an honor to be drafted at all,” Salata explained “The last draft pick is a demonstration of perseverance, it is a lesson that resonates not only with NFL players and fans, but also with people everywhere.”
Salata founded Irrelevant Week, which is a "celebration honoring football’s underdog, while also making charitable contributions to the community," according to the organization's website.
After being selected as Mr. Irrelevant, Salata's organization says the player will spend a week attending events held in Newport Beach and Orange County, California. He and his guests visit Disneyland, attend media events, visit the beneficiary charity (proceeds are collected throughout the week to benefit a selected charity), participate in a sailing regatta in Newport Harbor, and attend either a Los Angeles Dodgers or Angels game to receive special recognition.
The Salatas—with the help of donors and sponsors who gift products, event spaces, and meals—have raised more than $1 million for a number of charities (including the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the YMCA, and Special Olympics).
In the ensuing 40 years of the celebration—now more of a long weekend than a full week— one guy wanted to meet Will Ferrell, one else wanted to meet Halle Berry, and someone else wanted to meet Jerry Rice.
Melanie Fitch (took over running the organization): One year, we had a New England Patriots player and Belichick wasn't gonna let him come. He said, “Irrelevant Week's a farce. I'm not letting him go.” So I had to call the commissioner—Tagliabue at that time—and he had to call the owner and ask him to make it happen. So he got to come out. But because it was this power play thing, they said he had to be back at 7:30 A.M. Friday morning because there's a practice. So we get special clearance from the airport. Thursday night was his Lowsman Banquet, where he gets his trophy. Orange County airport isn't open late enough, so we get a police escort to take him up to LAX, throw him through security, run him to the plane, throw him on the plane.
Ronnie McAda (1997, Pick #240, Green Bay Packers) My boys, when they were a little bit younger, they used to tell everybody, "My dad was the pick right before Peyton Manning." And people would go, "Huh? Peyton Manning was the #1 pick." And they'd be like, "Yeah, but my dad was the last pick the year before that."
Tevita Ofahengaue: Paul Salata calls me and says, "Hey, you’re our first married guy, so we’re gonna fly you and your whole family." So I’m like, "Are you sure my whole family? I don’t know if you know any Polynesians." He's like, "Yeah, I think it’ll be cool." So when you go to Disneyland, they give you all the tickets. They gave me 100 tickets. I only had one extra ticket when we went to Disneyland. I took about 90-something people with me, and they paid for everything—hotel rooms, flights, limo service to and from for the whole week. I add up the numbers, and I got more signing bonus than freakin’ Michael Vick, who was the first pick.
Ryan Succop (2009, Pick #256, Kansas City Chiefs): The whole idea of the week is to celebrate you, but at the same time, definitely to make fun of you. So when you're a kicker and your last name is Succop and you're the last guy picked, they have a lot of ammunition going into that week. They have a parade for you at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach. There's all these multimillion-dollar yachts, and they bring me around to the back of the marina and say, “You're going to make your grand entrance into the marina, because everyone's waiting for you on the beach.” I’m thinking I'm going to come in on this awesome boat, and out of the corner comes this little boat with a five-horsepower engine. I look at the guy that's with me, and I'm like, “That's what I'm coming on, isn't it?” And he's like, “Oh yeah, that's you, buddy.” My grand entrance was in a little canoe with a five-horsepower engine beside all these million-dollar yachts.
https://www.kron4.com/sports/mr-irrelevant-getting-picked-last-in-the-nfl-draft-has-its-perks-brock-purdy/https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2023-04-27/heres-how-mr-irrelevant-nfl-draft-typically-performs-professional-football-player
https://www.gq.com/story/nfl-draft-mr-irrelevant-last-player-stories
This is one of the few articles I've made that doesn't have a vehicle in it... because I heard a tip about this, and it said that the player is given a car.... well, that didn't show up in ANY article online. SO, I ran with this anyway, because it's a charity - and I always post charity stories in hopes that they benefit from the free publicity, and it's got so many fun stories in it that I'm adding it to the Humor, and the Awesome categories as well
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