Rams defensive end Desjuan Johnson — last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, the last pick in the NFL draft — couldn’t make it to this year’s draft even though it’s in his hometown of Detroit because he’s back in the Southland practicing.
But his mother and the uncle who raised him were there on opening night Thursday, thanks to Melanie Fitch, CEO of Irrelevant Week.
“Now that we’re in Detroit we got to see his mom again and his uncle again,” Fitch told City News Service. “We had dinner the night before and brought them here for opening night. They’re getting to see the draft happening up close.”
Because Johnson was the final pick in the draft last year, his family wasn’t present for the televised hoopla, Fitch said.
“They like to see this whole setup, and obviously he wasn’t here last year because he was too low on the totem pole,” Fitch said.
And though Johnson isn’t as famous as the most well-known Mr. Irrelevant — Brock Purdy, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers — he is still on an NFL squad, Fitch said proudly.
“He’s doing great, he made the team,” Fitch said. “Desjuan was trying to get out here (to Detroit), but the Rams have him practicing. He’s still in L.A. practicing.”
Johnson played in 11 of the Rams’ 17 regular-season games in the 2023 season, making nine tackles, including two quarterback sacks.
This year, the New York Jets have the last pick in the draft at 257, Fitch said. It’s the first time the Irrelevant Week organization has dealt with the Jets, she said.
“So it looks like Mr. Irrelevant this year will be a New York Jet,” she said. “I think they’ll be fun to work with. They’ve been pretty agreeable.”
Irrelevant Week usually happens in the Newport Beach area in June, but the timing depends on when the team needs the players for practices, Fitch said.
Aside from being a running joke each year in the draft as a celebration of the last pick, the organization raises money for local charities.
“This year we’re focused on CHOC,” Fitch said, referring to Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“They’re going to get the lion’s share of Irrelevant Week funds this year,” she said. “They have matching programs, so the money we give to them will be matched also. We like to help kids.”
The volunteers for the effort don’t get paid “so that helps us raise more money for charity,” Fitch said.
“We could probably charge people more but a lot of it is to let the community and fans embrace Mr. Irrelevant and have fun,” Fitch said. “We keep it fun, but we still raise a lot of money.”
Last year, the organization raised a little more than $100,000, Fitch said.
“That’s good for us,” she said. “It makes a difference we’re still able to have fun and not ask for more than that.”