Mr. Irrelevant holds a special place in the annals of N.F.L. esoterica. Every year since 1976, the last player in the draft is crowned with the title, which signifies they were good enough to be chosen but only on the bubble of the football purgatory known as free agency.
There have been 45 Super Bowls since Paul Salata, a former N.F.L. player, gave out the first Mr. Irrelevant award as a tongue-in-cheek celebration of perseverance and luck. But according to Salata’s daughter, Melanie Fitch, only two Mr. Irrelevants have played in the Super Bowl.
The first, Marty Moore, was a linebacker with the New England Patriots in the 1996 season, and lost the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers. The second Mr. Irrelevant, Ryan Succop, the kicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, kicked an extra point on Sunday to become the first Mr. Irrelevant to score in the game. He has since added three more extra points and a 51-yard field goal.
“Finally, a relevant Super Bowl player,” Fitch said, tongue firmly in cheek. “We’ll be watching Succop. Everything else is irrelevant.”
Succop, 34, was drafted last in 2009 and played five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, then seven more years with the Tennessee Titans. The Buccaneers signed him as a free agent in September and he had one of his best statistical years, making 90.3 percent of his field goals.
Despite his success in the league, Succop has embraced his role as Mr. Irrelevant. Two years ago, when the draft was in Nashville and he was with the Titans, Succop helped announce Caleb Wilson, a tight end chosen last. Now, he has raised the bar for his fellow Mr. Irrelevants.
The original article can be found at https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/07/sports/super-bowl-chiefs-bucs#mr-irrelevant-scored-in-the-super-bowl-for-the-first-time
Originally written by Ken Belson from The New York Times.