For a few minutes on Saturday, football fans will stop obsessing over what overheated pundits are saying about their team’s selections and briefly focus on the final pick in the NFL Draft. Since 1976, that player has been crowned Mr. Irrelevant.
Former NFL receiver Paul Salata came up with the award as a tongue-in-cheek way to honor football’s little guys. Every year, the new Mr. Irrelevant is flown to California for Irrelevant Week, which includes media events, fundraisers, and a banquet at which the honoree is given the Lowsman Trophy.
“I always thought of football as a team sport,” Salata told Sports Illustrated in 2010, “but the media gives most of the attention to the quarterbacks and the first picks.”
It’s a small tradition, but this time of year it at least temporarily takes us away from the crush of 40-yard dash times, Wonderlic scores, and vicious anonymous scouts. So without further ado, here’s an update on 20 relevant Mr. Irrelevant winners*:
*Note: Even though Mr. Irrelevant wasn’t created until 40 years ago, we’re including players selected before 1976.
20. Jimmy Walker, 1967
Walker didn’t play a snap of college football, but that didn’t stop the Saints from taking him with the final selection of the 1967 NFL Draft. Later that year, Walker, who was an All-American basketball player at Providence was the top pick in the NBA Draft. Over his nine-season career with the Pistons, Rockets, and Kings, he averaged 16.7 points per game. Walker, who died in 2007, is also Jalen Rose’s father, though the two never met.
19. Chandler Harnish, 2012
Since Indianapolis snagged the former Northern Illinois star quarterback with the final pick of the 2012 draft, Harnish hasn’t seen any actual NFL action. He has, however, spent time with the Colts, the Vikings, and the Cardinals.
Chandler Harnish in action. Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
18. Daron Alcorn, 1993
Alcorn never played in an NFL game, but after the Buccaneers drafted him, he went on to become an All-Arena League kicker. Note: At 6-foot-4, 260 pounds, he was built like a defensive end. For a time, his day job reportedly was at a lumber company.
17. Michael Reed, 1995
A defensive back out of Boston College, Reed played in a total of three games for the then-expansion Panthers and made a brief stop in NFL Europe before moving on to coaching. He’s currently the defensive backs coach at Clemson.
16. Justice Cunningham, 2013
Cunningham played college ball at South Carolina before the Colts took him with the 254th pick in 2013. The tight end spent portions of three seasons with Indianapolis and the Rams. Cunningham has one career catch.
Justice Cunningham stretches. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
15. Ferd Dreher, 1938
The last pick in the third ever NFL Draft, Dreher played in a total of three professional games. In his short career as a receiver with the Bears, he caught only three passes, but one was for a touchdown. In 2003, he posthumously was inducted into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame.
14. Norman Jefferson, 1987
The former LSU star defensive back had a short stint in the NFL after the Packers took him with the 335th pick of the 1987 draft. In 14 career games, Jefferson returned six kickoffs, averaging 24.3 yards per return.
13. Kelvin Kirk, 1976
The first officially crowned Mr. Irrelevant, Kirk never actually made it to the NFL. However, the receiver out of Dayton ended up having a very productive CFL career. In 78 total games, he caught 103 passes for 2,942 yards and 16 touchdowns. Kirk, who went on to work in the advertising department of the Ottawa Citizen, died of a heart attack at age 49 in 2003.
“Kelvin was just a delight to be around,” Ottawa Rough Riders teammate Bruce Walker told the paper in 2003. “You couldn’t say a negative thing about him. I remember arriving at practice every day and Kelvin would have drawn all sorts of caricatures on the chalkboard. When [Coach] George Brancato would come in, he would have to erase the pictures or draw the plays around the pictures.”
12. Sisto Averno, 1951
The two-way player (Averno was a guard and a linebacker) played for three teams over five seasons in the NFL. The former Muhlenberg standout finished his career with five fumble recoveries.
11. Ramzee Robinson, 2007
Robinson, a defensive back who played college ball at Alabama, bounced around the NFL after the Lions snagged him with the last pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played two seasons in Detroit and spent portions of 2009 with the Eagles and the Browns. In 26 career games, he collected 29 tackles.
10. David Vobora, 2008
Vobora spent three of his four seasons in the NFL with the Rams, the team that drafted him. He finished his career with 57 tackles, including a pair of sacks. After retiring from football, the former linebacker founded the Adaptive Training Foundation, a program for athletes with disabilities.
9. Tyrone McGriff, 1980
McGriff played three seasons with the Steelers, the team that took him with the 333rd pick in the 1980 draft. During his first season, he started 10 games at right guard and made the NFL All-Rookie team. The former Florida A&M star died in 2000 at age 42.
8. Matt Elliott, 1992
As a rookie in Washington in 1992, Elliott started twice during the regular season and saw action in all 16 games. After injuries kept him off the field in 1993 and 1994, he signed with the Panthers in 1995. Elliott ended up spending three years with Carolina. In 1996-97, the versatile offensive lineman played center, guard, and tackle. His ability and willingness to be plugged in seemingly anywhere reportedly led him to be nicknamed “Lego Man.”
7. Marty Moore, 1994
A pioneer among Mr. Irrelevant winners, Moore was the first player picked last in the NFL Draft to play in a Super Bowl (XXXI). A capable linebacker and special teamer for the Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll era Patriots of the ’90s, he finished his career with 110 total tackles, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Moore didn’t play much in 2001, the season New England won its first championship, but he still earned a ring.
In 2010, NESN’s Jeff Howe profiled Moore, who apparently enjoyed his status as Mr. Irrelevant, even if at first he didn’t believe that such a title existed. “My family all thought [Salata] was just pulling my leg,” he told NESN. “They were excited that I got drafted, but they were like, ‘Who is this guy? Is this real?’ My family started researching and tried to find out if Mr. Irrelevant and Irrelevant Week was a legitimate thing because no one had ever heard of it.”
6. Jacque MacKinnon, 1961
The Eagles selected MacKinnon 1961, but the tight end out of Colgate never played in the NFL. He did, however, become an AFL standout. In 10 seasons (nine of which were with the Chargers), the two-time AFL All-Star caught 112 passes for 2,109 yards and 20 touchdowns.
5. Jim Finn, 1999
Finn played seven NFL seasons, including three with the Colts and four with the Giants. The fullback blocked for Tiki Barber, helping his teammate amass a franchise-record 1,860 rushing yards in 2005. The former Penn standout also was a reliable receiver, catching passes from both Peyton and Eli Manning. He finished his career with 60 receptions.
Jim Finn during his time with the Colts. AP Photo-Michael Conroy
4. Stu Clarkson, 1942
A World War II veteran and former Texas A&M-Kingsville standout, Clarkson went on to play linebacker for the Bears for seven seasons. He helped Chicago win the NFL championship in 1946 and finished with 10 career interceptions.
3. Michael Green, 2000
Green, a former star at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., quietly had a pretty stellar NFL career. In eight seasons, six of which were spent with Chicago, the ball-hawking safety amassed four interceptions, seven forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, and six sacks. In 2002, he racked up 100 tackles.
2. Ryan Succop, 2009
Since the Chiefs made him Mr. Irrelevant in 2009, Succop has been a rock solid NFL kicker. Among all active NFL players, he’s 19th in points scored. Succop has made 152 of 185 career field goal attempts and in seven seasons he’s only missed two extra points. (Both of those came last year, after the NFL pushed the PAT distance back to 33 yards.) He currently kicks for the Titans.
Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
1. John Tuggle, 1983
Tuggle’s NFL career was far too short, but his impact still is deeply felt. The summer after a rookie season in which he appeared in all 16 games, the Giants fullback was diagnosed with cancer. He never played football again, but refused to give up spending time with his teammates.
“You could tell what a terrible thing his chemotherapy was, but John actually got stronger, and although it broke your heart to do it, he wanted to be pushed, he didn’t want sympathy,” Giants strength and conditioning coach Johnny Parker told The New York Times in 1986. “’In the weight room, John Tuggle was not sick, John Tuggle was a standard.”
Tuggle died in August 1986, five months before the Giants won Super Bowl XXI. That season, the Giants wore a helmet sticker bearing Tuggle’s No. 38. His life inspired an ESPN 30 for 30 short.
