The honoree for the 40th annual “Irrelevant Week” will become known Saturday at the conclusion of the NFL draft.
A series of events will be held July 7-11 to honor the final player chosen, dubbed Mr. Irrelevant, including a roast July 10 at the Balboa Bay Resort where he will receive the “Lowsman Trophy,” which depicts a player fumbling a football.
Mr. Irrelevant will also visit Disneyland and will instruct at the Community Field Day and Unified Flag Football Game at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa.
The Arizona Cardinals will make the last choice in the seven-round draft, which they were awarded as compensation for losing more or better compensatory free agents than they acquired.
Melanie Salata Fitch, the daughter of Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata, will be at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, the site of the draft, where she will introduce Chandler Harnish, who will announce the choice from the Cardinals’ headquarters in Tempe, Arizona.
Harnish was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the last choice in the 2012 draft and recently signed with Arizona. Paul Salata is scheduled to attend the announcement of the final choice in Arizona.
Paul Salata, who played end for USC and two NFL teams, said he founded Irrelevant Week in 1976 — when the draft was 17 rounds — “to drive home an important message — that it’s not a negative to be picked last in the NFL draft, rather it’s an honor to be drafted at all.”
“It’s a lesson that resonates not only with NFL players and fans, but with people everywhere.”
Irrelevant Week is the cornerstone of The Foundation for the Undefeated, a national nonprofit organization based in Newport Beach that champions stories of perseverance in sports.
—City News Service