| Bleary-eyed and somewhat overwhelmed by billions
of stats and 40 times, I finally picked up the remote to my TV yesterday at about 4:15
p.m. central time. The television had been tuned to either ESPN or ESPN2 since 11 a.m.
on Saturday, and now it was time to give it a rest. Not to mention give my eyes a chance
to focus on something other than the moving pictures beamed from New York.
Before I could call it quits, though, ending two days of marathon draft watching, I had
to know who was the final player drafted in 2001. I simply couldn’t stop viewing
until Paul Salata, the founder of "Mr. Irrelevant" had announced the last draft
pick.
For the past 26 years, you see, Salata and his organization has been honoring the final
pick — dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant" — of each NFL draft. The honoree is
rewarded with a trip to Newport Beach, Calif., where he is treated like a king for a week.
He attends ceremonies, tours Disneyland and is even marched around in a parade.
The whole thing sounds a little silly to me, but from what I hear, most of the guys who
are honored in such fashion report the entire thing to be a very positive experience.
In years past when, the draft ran much longer than the current seven rounds, the Mr.
Irrelevant title was a little more appropriate. When you are a 12th-round draft
pick, your chances of landing on the final 53-man roster are pretty slim. But these days,
seventh-round picks very often stick with the team. In this age of the salary-cap,
low-priced rookies are often more practical than veteran backups. The minimum salary for a
rookie this season will be $209,000, whereas the minimum for a five-year veteran is nearly
$500,000. Teams facing tough cap situations are more inclined to keep the cheaper of the
two alternatives, giving these Mr. Irrelevants a strong shot of securing a place on the
team.
In fact, the term Mr. Irrelevant is almost irrelevant itself these days. Of the past
four Mr. Irrelevants, three are still playing in the league. Last year, DB Michael Green
was the last player picked, and he stuck with the Bears. In 1999, RB James Finn was
drafted by the Bears with the final pick. While he didn’t make the final cut in
Chicago, he landed in Indianapolis and even scored a TD for the Colts last season. QB
Ronnie McAda was Mr. Irrelevant of the ’97 draft, having been picked by the Packers.
He’s now with the Broncos. Of the last four final picks, only TE Cam Quayle of
’98 is not active in the NFL.
This year’s Mr. Irrelevant is Tevita Ofahengaue, an overaged tight end out of
Brigham Young, is now a member of the Arizona Cardinals’ family. While Pro Football
Weekly’s 2001 Draft Preview book did not include a report on Ofahengaue, we were
aware of his presence in the draft. In fact, this publication had him rated as the 29th-best
tight end available with a 4.60 grade. (That grade translates into having a chance to make
an NFL roster or practice squad.)
While we may have rated Ofahengaue as a long-shot TE prospect, Cardinals head coach
Dave McGinnis is looking forward to having him in camp. Arizona has been lacking top tight
ends on the roster for some time now, and is hopeful that Ofahengaue can fill the void.
"He was the highest tight end on our board," said McGinnis after the draft.
While Ofahengaue may be nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant by coaches and teammates in his first
minicamp and into training camp, he should know that his chances of sticking with the club
aren’t as long as his new title might suggest.
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