CNN
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If you’re not first, the saying goes, you’re last. But in the case of the annual NFL draft, finishing dead last is by no means a bad thing at all.
In fact, being selected as the very last guy on Saturday night provides access to a unique club and the most unlikely football fraternity, just as long as you don’t mind a seemingly demeaning title: Mr. Irrelevant.
Anyone who’s been drafted by an NFL team will tell you that it’s both an exhilarating and nerve-shredding experience; sitting anxiously by the phone, waiting for it to ring and hoping that you won’t be completely overlooked. When wide receiver Ryan Hoag was drafted in 2003, the lunchroom at his liberal arts school in Minnesota was turned into a party scene. His cell phone was connected to the loudspeakers and hundreds of friends and family were in attendance.
“They made a real big deal about it,” he recalled to CNN, “which was really fun until we’re six hours in and my name hasn’t been called, and now I feel awful.”
In the buildup to the draft, Hoag had seen his name featured on ESPN as one of the players to watch, but as Saturday wore on, he began to lose hope. Hoag says he’d given up 15 picks before the end of the final round, but then the phone rang, and the Oakland Raiders coach Bill Callahan was on the line.
“He said, ‘Would you like to be Mr. Irrelevant?’ And the whole place just went nuts,” he recalled. “It was like your team had just won the Super Bowl. Everybody just jumped up and screamed. My visceral response was to hang up the phone and celebrate with all my people.”
At some point in the mayhem, Hoag’s friend and teammate drew attention to the fact that the number of his selection, 262 out of 262, came with additional benefits.
“He’s like, ‘dude! I think Mr. Irrelevant wins a million dollars and a trip to Hawaii!,’” Hoag said,
That wasn’t quite true, but he was about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.
Hoag said that he didn’t know much about Mr. Irrelevant, but he’d at least heard of it. In 1992, when Michigan’s guard and center Matt Elliott was drafted as the 336th pick, he had no idea.
“This was truly the last years before the internet,” he joked to CNN. “I think it was (Washington) coach Joe Gibbs who told me, ‘Some people from California are going to call you, it’s called Irrelevant Week. It’s gonna be fun. Just understand that it’s gonna be fun!’”
Historically, most players who’d been picked last didn’t have much of a career in the NFL, in fact many never even played a game. So, in 1976, the late Paul Salata decided that he wanted to give them something to smile about. He had been a 10th round pick as a receiver in 1951, scoring four NFL touchdowns in a fleeting professional career. But his greatest contribution to the league began when he invited the 487th pick Kelvin Kirk to Newport Beach in California.
“Mr Irrelevant” and “Irrelevant week” had been born; it’s since become one of the most endearing concepts in sports.
“With the exception of maybe the first round,” Hoag posited, “I don’t know that anybody in their right mind would be drafted anywhere other than Mr. Irrelevant. My mom still jokes about it to this day, it was this out of body experience for our family, we were treated like royalty for the entire week.”
Irrelevant Week
The event is now run by Salata’s daughter, who told CNN that planning for the week begins from backstage as soon as the draft is over. Irrelevant Week takes place in Newport Beach, California, featuring a parade in honor of the draftee, a “roast and toast” dinner and a golf tournament. The festivities are tailored to each athlete, and they are encouraged to submit a wish list.
“Many players have never seen the ocean before,” Melanie Pong Salata told CNN. “The player usually wants a surfing lesson, so we have famous surfers teach him while a party is happening on the beach.”
There are VIP trips to Disneyland and the Playboy Mansion, players have met celebrities like Will Farrell and Jimmy Kimmel and driven the cars of their dreams. As a single man, Hoag appeared on “The Bachelorette” reality TV show.
“I just remember sitting up there on one of those big lifeguard chairs on the beach,” quipped the 2009 Mr. Irrelevant Ryan Succop to CNN, “all these people are celebrating you and bringing you gifts and I’m kind of sitting there going, ‘Man, what in the world am I doing?’”
At the end of the week, the players leave Newport Beach with more than just fond memories. Stuffed into their luggage is the Lowsman Trophy, a tongue in cheek reference to the Heisman Trophy given to the best NCAA player every season; the player depicted is fumbling the ball.
“Most people would think it’s the hollow plastic that you get at a sporting goods store,” explained Hoag. “Nah, this thing’s bronze. It’s 10 pounds. This is the real deal my friend, it’s hilarious. I love it!”
A very different kind of start to a career
Every Mr. Irrelevant is encouraged to show some humility and to lean into the spirit of the event, but the dubious honor doesn’t necessarily signify the end of their professional dreams.
The 1994 draftee Marty Moore played alongside Tom Brady in his first Super Bowl victory in 2002. Kicker Succop played alongside Brady in his final Super Bowl triumph for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021, whilst the 262nd pick in 2022, Brock Purdy, played in the Super Bowl for the 49ers just two years later.
Youngsters in the school yard might have an idea of what it’s like to be picked last – it can be humiliating. But the Mr. Irrelevants say there is no shame, because they are selected ahead of potentially a hundred other college players who aren’t selected at all. Just a few hundred players are drafted every year.
“You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than drafted in the NFL,” said Hoag. “That’s pretty special.”
“I didn’t really care how I got my start,” said Succop, who knew that as a kicker who’d be a late round pick at best. “It does not matter how or where you get your start, what matters is the way you prepare, and when your opportunity comes, are you ready? Use this opportunity, don’t take the irrelevant title as a negative.”
Succop says that whenever he played, he always knew if there was a Mr. Irrelevant on the opposing team and they’d be sure to connect before or after the game. Many still attend the events in Newport Beach and have formed lifelong friendships, and they are always rooting for each other. Matt Elliott says he only cares about two picks in every draft these days, the first and the last. Asked to put a value on the experience and benefits of being Mr. Irrelevant, he said it was priceless.
What started out as a gentle tease half a century ago has turned into something uniquely wonderful.
Crediting the founder Paul Salata, Hoag said, “He was just like, let’s celebrate somebody, and do something nice for somebody, for no reason. Especially in this day and age of dog eat dog, when everything’s politicized and negative, you need more of people wanting to lift up others for no other reason. It’s nice to have a breath of fresh air.”
“This is the one thing that will never happen to you again and it’s only happened to 49 people in the world, so live it up.”