At the end of the 2022 NFL draft, with the 262nd pick, Iowa State QB, Brock Purdy joined a select group of players who were drafted last, each famously known as “Mr. Irrelevant”. Mr. Irrelevants are remembered in NFL lore forever. Most of them (64% since 2000) go on to play in the NFL and some of them end up with long careers (K, Ryan Succop; DB, Michael Green). But more importantly, a player who is drafted last in the NFL and becomes Mr. Irrelavant will be celebrated on a scale much greater than the vast majority of players who were drafted. Aside from the title that very few can claim, Mr Irrelevant gets an entire week of events celebrating their new elite status. During the week in Newport Beach, CA, they are recognized at a number of events such as a sailing regatta, a baseball game, media events, a charity fundraiser, and finally culminating in a banquet in their honor, where they are awarded the Lowsman Trophy. Mr irrelevant is anything but irrelevant. He is celebrated. He becomes a part of NFL history before he ever steps on the field.
When you hear the names: Tae Crowder, Trey Quinn, Ryan Succop, Grant Stuard, and now Brock Purdy…every one of you immediately thinks “Mr. Irrelavant”. We remember these names, we associated them with the elite group they are in. We think pleasant thoughts about how they are celebrated for being last. People like me, underdogs who are perpetually in last place, look up to these lovable heroes because they give us hope. Hope that we can be last and loved also.
But what do you think when you hear these names: Chris Neild, Jordan Brailford, Josh Hull, and Matthew Dayes?
crickets?
You’re probably not thinking anything. Well, these guys were the 2nd to last pick in the draft. They don’t have a trophy. They didn’t get invited to a baseball game or a regatta. There is no banquet in their honor. You read their names and thought…nothing. There is nothing more irrelevant than being the guy drafted right before Mr. Irrelevant. These unfortunate souls are the real mr. irellevants. (Throughout this post I will refer to them as lower case mr. irrelevant) .
In Talladega Nights Ricky Bobby famously said, If you ain't first, you're last. But I’m of the opinion that if you’re not last, but almost last, you’re last.
To illustrate how impactful and life-changing being drafted last is compared to being drafted 2nd to last, I did a Google Trends search comparing this year’s Mr. Irrelavant, Brock Purdy to AJ Arcuri who was drafted 2nd to last. At their peaks, the moment they were drafted, Arcuri had only 9% of the search traffic that Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy had. Some skeptics will say, well… one is a QB and one is a Tackle, and that can influence this search data as well. While that may be a factor, we can also compare their trend lines before and after they were drafted. The gap between the two lines widens about 3X to 5X by comparing the two players when they were both just football players to the point when one of the two guys became immortalized as Mr. Irrelevant.
For those drafted 2nd to last to make their mark, they are going to have to do it on the field. They aren’t walking into the NFL with the privilege of already having made history, it must be earned. Earning it is not easy for someone drafted this late, but it’s not impossible. AJ Arcuri, the real mr. irrelevant can take solace in knowing that since 2000, 82% of the 2nd to last pick have gone on to play in the NFL, for an average career of 2.7 years.
We can look to guys like Denzelle Good for inspiration. Good was drafted 2nd to last in 2015 by the Colts. He played in 62 games with 43 starts and lasted in the league until he was 30 years old. His best year was 2020 when he started 14 games for the Raiders and earned an AV of 8.
Alphonso Boone, drafted 2nd to last by Detroit in 2000, ended up playing 10 years in the league. He was a starter or spot starter for 8 consecutive years spanning seasons with Chicago, KC, and SD. He played in 129 games and started 42 games. At age 31, he made a Super Bowl with Chicago in 2006; he played in the game and recorded two tackles. Unfortunately, the Bears lost and he didn’t get a ring. Twice in his life, he was runner-up to immortality (the draft and Super Bowl).
A guy who really shouldn’t be considered as one of the real mr. irellevants because he gets to go to parties with his brother Rob, is Dan Gronkowski. He was drafted 2nd to last by Detroit in 2009. Dan was a tight end who stuck around for three years in the league and finished his career by playing five games in 2011 on the Patriots with his brother, Rob.
Here is a list of the rest of the real mr. irrelevants. These are the guys drafted behind everyone on earth except for the only draft spot that matters, last.
Some notable highlights for mr. irrelevant
- There are three positions represented in the 2nd to last pick group that are not in the Mr. Irrelevant group: Tackles (4), Guard (1), and Running Back (3)
- Washington and Buffalo each have three mr. irrelevants out of the 23 selected since 2000
Not that I should give the players awarded the title of Mr. Irrelevant any more recognition than they already have. Here is the list of players and some key stats for Mr. Irrelevant since 2000.
Some notable highlights for Mr. Irrelevant
- There are three Mr. Irrelevant Quarterbacks (Purdy, Chad Kelly, and Chandler Harnish), but none have been drafted in the 2nd to last group.
- Arizona, Houston, and Oakland have three Mr. Irrelevants each since 2000 combining to make up 39% of all Mr. Irellevant’s selected.
Cycling has its version of Mr. Irrelevant. In the Tour de France the cyclist each year who will finish in last place out of nearly 200 riders, is called the Lantern Rouge which gets its name from the red light that use to hang on the back of the caboose of trains. Historically, the Lantern Rouge would gain a lot of publicity and earn money through appearance fees as a result of their last-place finish. There have been times in the past when cyclists who had no chance to win or help their teams would instead try to battle each other for a last-place finish. These guys got it… they knew there is nothing worse than coming in 2nd to last place. We all want to leave a legacy, some of us do it the hard way, by becoming amazing at something, by winning, by being great. Some of us do it by being the worst, by being last, by lucking into the perfect scenario. But most of us aren’t great, we aren’t last, we aren’t lucky, we are Beau Sandland, 2nd to last pick out of Montana State in the 2016 NFL draft. We are irrelevant.
This is one of my Meaningless but Fun posts. Other nonsense from my Meaningless but Fun series is below:
Mac Jones and Kyler Murray are the worst in the NFL at this one thing...
Mitch Trubisky is the best in NFL history at this one thing…
Here is how Creed Humphrey will make history at 4:30 PM Eastern Time on Saturday
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