With Broncos in line to pick last in NFL draft, more Mr. Irrelevant frivolity awaits

Melanie Salata Fitch, the CEO of Irrelevant Week since 2002 and the daughter of founder Paul Salata, announces Chad Kelly as the Broncos' draft pick and Mr. Irrelevant at the 2017 NFL Draft.

A Rolls Royce was ready. A parade route had been mapped out. A press conference was scheduled.

Suddenly, the phone rang in Paul Salata’s office in Newport Beach, Calif., on that June 1976 morning. It was Kelvin Kirk, a wide receiver from the University of Dayton, calling to say he had missed his flight to Southern California and would be several hours late.

What was Salata to do? The businessman and former pro wide receiver had scheduled an elaborate ceremony to honor the last player taken in the NFL draft that April, dubbing him Mr. Irrelevant, and now his first guest of honor wouldn’t arrive on time.

Paul Salata, who created the Mr. Irrelevant tradition that honors the final selection of the NFL Draft, poses with Broncos draft pick Chad Kelly, Mr. Irrelevant in 2017. Salata died at 94 in 2021.

No problem. Salata hustled off to a Newport Beach supermarket and found a butcher named Donnie Hughes, who was willing to step in for Kirk, then 22. Never mind that Hughes was about 10 years older, had a pot belly and hardly looked like someone who had been taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 17th round of the 1976 NFL draft with the No. 487 overall pick.

Hughes waved from a Rolls Royce during a motorcade at the opening ceremonies and then answered questions during the press conference as if he were Kirk.

“Nobody knew what Kelvin Kirk looked like,” said Melanie Salata Fitch, the daughter of the late Salata who has been the CEO of Irrelevant Week since 2002. “(Reporters) were asking him questions. He didn’t know any stats, so he would just say things like, ‘My toughest game was against Colorado State.'”

Finally, the real Kirk arrived.

“My dad just rolled with it and he put him into the press conference literally in mid-sentence,” said Fitch, 70, who was then 20 and dressed as a cheerleader for the first Irrelevant Week. “And everybody laughed. They just continued the press conference. And it was, ‘So tell me about your favorite game again.'”

Melanie Salata Fitch has served as CEO of the Mr. Irrelevant tradition since 2002 and is the daughter of creator Paul Salata.

For 50 years, the laughs have continued. With the Broncos having the No. 257 pick in the NFL draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday, the player taken at that spot will become the latest Mr. Irrelevant.

It’s possible Denver could trade the pick, but general manager George Paton did recently call it “cool” having that selection. That was welcome news to Fitch, who will announce the final pick at the draft in Pittsburgh, a role she has had since 2014. She replaced her father, who first went on stage in 1992 for the final pick and did so for 22 drafts.

The player taken last will be brought in June to the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach, just south of Los Angeles, for a week of all sorts of activities. He will be roasted at a banquet, given gag gifts and be introduced to celebrities. He will have the opportunity to go to Disneyland to cavort with Mickey Mouse and Goofy.

In this Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018, file photo, former San Francisco 49ers player Paul Salata is seen before an NFL football game between the 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams in Santa Clara, Calif. Salata, who created the Mr. Irrelevant Award that honors the last selection of the NFL draft, after playing football at Southern California and in the NFL and Canadian Football League, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. He was 94.

Salata, who died in 2021 at age 94, had been a receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts from 1949-50 who made a fortune in the construction business. He wanted to do something special for a random person and was intrigued about there having been a Mr. Laguna contest in 1974, when a group randomly picked out a man from the St. Louis phone book to bring him to Southern California to be honored.

Salata pitched his idea to then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, a friend, about celebrating the underdog while treating the last player taken in the draft in the same manner as the first. Rozelle was all for it, and Mr. Irrelevant was born. In addition to being a fun annual event, Irrelevant Week over the past half century has raised about $2 million for charity due to sponsorships and banquet ticket sales.

The Broncos have had one previous Mr. Irrelevant, that being Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly in 2017. The University of Colorado has produced two in running back Jim Kelleher in 1977 and quarterback Randy Essington in 1984. And Colorado State linebacker Andre Sommersell joined the party in 2004.

A Colorado standout, Jim Kelleher was the final pick and Mr. Irrelevant in the 1977 NFL Draft. He now owns Top of Rockies, a marketing and apparel firm in Denver, and his shown here on March 24.

Kirk, who never played in the NFL but did have a seven-season run in the Canadian Football League, died in 2003. That has left Kelleher, 72, as the oldest living Mr. Irrelevant. Kelleher became the second Mr. Irrelevant when he was taken No. 335 by the Minnesota Vikings in what had become a 12-round draft in May 1977.

“The day after I drafted, Paul Salata called and explained Mr. Irrelevant Week and I actually called my agent (longtime sports figure Steve Ehrhart) to ask him if this is real,” said Kelleher, who now owns Top of Rockies, a marketing and apparel firm in Denver. “I just laughed. I didn’t really know what I was thinking but I was just thrilled about being drafted.”

Kelleher was whisked out to Newport Beach for a week of frivolity. A band greeted him upon his arrival. He went to Disneyland and had his photo taken with Mickey Mouse. He drove with Salata to Las Vegas to take in a show and had a night of fun.

“I was always up for a party then,” said Kelleher, who last June attended a celebration for the 50th Irrelevant Week. “It was so much fun. … We all went to Disneyland and had a blast. … It’s just hilarious there.”

A former Colorado standout, Jim Kelleher was the final pick and Mr. Irrelevant in the 1977 NFL Draft. He now owns Top of Rockies, a marketing and apparel firm in Denver. Here he’s shown in March 2026 with the Lowsman Trophy.

One of Kelleher’s gag gifts was a “Get Out of Jail Free” card from the Newport Beach Police Department, which thankfully he didn’t have to use. Kelleher doesn’t deny he did his share of drinking that week and was named “Most Versatile Partier” when he returned for the 10-year anniversary of Irrelevant Week. He said those days are over, though, and he has been sober since 1999.

Kelleher didn’t make the Vikings, having been cut 10 days into training camp. But he has at his home in Superior the Lowsman Trophy as a regular reminder of having been Mr. Irrelevant.

Colorado running back Jim Kelleher with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland during the 1977 Mr. Irrelevant Week.

Ah, the Lowsman Trophy. In the second year of Mr. Irrelevant, Salata came up with an annual trophy that plays off the Heisman Trophy and features a player with a fumble bouncing off his knee. While Kelleher received an artist rendering of the trophy during Irrelevant Week in 1977, he eventually was sent the actual trophy.

Kelleher’s Lowsman Trophy ended up being put on display at Colorado alongside the Heisman that Buffaloes running back Rashaan Salaam won in 1994. Then Mike Bohn arrived as athletic director in 2005 and the Lowsman Trophy was removed and sent back to Kelleher.

“He failed to see the humor in it,”  Kelleher said.

A former Colorado standout, Jim Kelleher was the final pick and Mr. Irrelevant in the 1977 NFL Draft. He now owns Top of Rockies, a marketing and apparel firm in Denver. Here he’s shown with the Lowsman Trophy alongside CU icon Rashaan Salaam and Salaam’s Heisman Trophy.

Kelleher did have a photo taken with Salaam, who died in 2016, with the Heisman and Lowsman trophies sitting in front of them. Kelleher cherishes having once been named Mr. Irrelevant.

“I’m fine with it,” Kelleher said. “It represents that I fulfilled a dream that a lot of young kids had. I didn’t make it in the NFL, but I did get drafted, and the fact that it was last just makes me laugh. … A lot of people know that I was Mr. Irrelevant. A lot more people than I could imagine.”

Meanwhile, Essington wants nothing to do with having been Mr. Irrelevant. He was taken by the Los Angeles Raiders with the No. 336 overall pick in the 12th round in 1994 after having sat out his senior season due to a form of hemophilia. However, he was cleared to return to play before being drafted.

“He showed up to (Irrelevant Week) and was not in a good mood,” Fitch said. “He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder or something. He went to the events but didn’t have a positive attitude. … Then when we tried to get ahold of him one time for one of the reunion events, he said, ‘Don’t ever call me again. Don’t ever contact me again. I don’t want to be involved at all.’ We’ve never had any other Mr. Irrelevant do that.”

Essington failed to make the Raiders as a rookie and never played in the NFL. Messages sent to a phone number and an email listed for him were not returned.

Former NFL receiver Paul Salata, right, announces the 254th overall pick of the NFL Draft, Saturday, April 27, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. South Carolina tight end Justice Cunningham was picked by the Indianapolis Colts to conclude the 2013 draft.

Two decades later, another player from a Colorado school went to the Raiders as Mr. Irrelevant, and he was fine with it. With the team then in Oakland, Sommersell was selected in the seventh round with the No. 255 overall pick in 2004. The linebacker, who attended nearby Fountain Valley (Calif.) High School, didn’t have to travel far for Irrelevant Week.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said. “There was a parade in my honor and I was sitting on a big lifeguard stand. It was a good turnout. My family was there, and so were my high school teammates and high school cheerleaders. They had me judge a contest in which girls wanted to dance with me, and I had to select which of the contestants would be my date.”

Former Colorado State linebacker Andre Sommersell poses with a Raiders jersey in 2024. He was Mr. Irrelevant after being Oakland’s selection with the final pick of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Notable people who turned out for the Lowsman banquet and sat at the head table to honor Sommersell included Mike White, a former Raiders head coach, former NFL players Bob Golic and Paul McDonald and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Ann Meyers Drysdale. As a nod to where Sommersell was from, also sitting at the head table was the Fountain Valley Sewage Treatment Plant manager.

Alas, Sommersell failed to make the Raiders. He did spend 2004 and 2005 on the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad but never got into a regular-season game.

When four decades had passed following the start of Irrelevant Week, the Broncos still hadn’t selected last in a draft. After they won Super Bowls in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, they didn’t have the final selection due to the NFL then placing compensatory picks at the end of seventh rounds.

In 2016, after winning their third Super Bowl, the Broncos entered the draft with the last pick. But they traded it during the fifth round to the Tennessee Titans, who selected Southern Mississippi cornerback Kalan Reed at No. 253.

Tennessee Titans kicker Ryan Succop announces the final pick of the NFL football draft Saturday, April 27, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. The last pick of the draft is dubbed Mr. Irrelevant. Succop was chosen as the final pick of the 2009 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson, picked by the Arizona Cardinals, is the 2019 Mr. Irrelevant.

Fitch had brought to the draft in Chicago a Broncos jersey that read on it “Mr. Irrelevant” and “253.” With Denver having made the trade and Reed taken, that jersey nevertheless was displayed on stage by her husband, Ed Fitch, while daughter Alix Fitch showed off a Titans helmet that had been taken off their draft table.

In 2017, the Broncos again entered the draft with the last pick, having received a compensatory selection. This time they kept it and selected Kelly. He likely would have been a higher pick had he not had an injury-riddled senior season and had some off-the-field incidents in college, including being booted from Clemson after his freshman year for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

“Honestly, it was a dream come true just to be drafted,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the first pick or the last pick, that was one of my goals in life and it came to fruition. And then it came with a name you got to live with (in Mr. Irrevelant). But what a cool event it was. They really did a fantastic job making someone feel relevant.”

Former Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly poses with Broncos cheerleaders after being selected as Mr. Irrelevant with the final pick of the 2017 NFL draft.

After Kelly arrived in Newport Beach, he was brought to the Lowsman banquet on a big yacht, with scuba divers coming out of the water to greet him by holding up a sign that read, “Welcome to Mr. Irrelevant, Chad Kelly.” The week featured Kelly trying his hand at surfing, doing some line dancing and taking a tour of California’s ESPN studios. He was showered with gifts, including a big orange floppy hat and a watch, something Roger Goodell and previous NFL commissioners annually have given to Mr. Irrelevant.

“I got to meet John Wayne’s daughter (Aissa Wayne), and that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Kelly said. “The highlight of it was just being able to meet the daughter of my childhood hero.”

Kelly missed his rookie year due to wrist surgery and ended up being released midway through his second season of 2018 after being arrested for first-degree criminal trespassing. He illegally entered an Englewood residence and sat down on a couch next to a woman holding her child and was “mumbling incoherently” before being chased out. Kelly, now a star quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, recently told The Denver Gazette he’s a “new person” since his exit from Denver after having played just one regular-season NFL snap.

By the time Kelly was in Newport Beach, Irrelevant Week had become much more tame.

Broncos draft pick Chad Kelly is celebrated in Newport Beach, Calif., as Mr. Irrelevant in 2017.

Mike Almond, the 1979 Mr. Irrelevant, once spoke of being a judge for a Miss Irrelevant wet T-shirt contest. David Vobora, the 2008 Lowsman winner, was taken to the Playboy Mansion to hang out. Kicker Ryan Succop, the 2009 Mr. Irrelevant who went on to play 14 NFL seasons, did shots out of an oversized hypodermic needle.

Fitch recalled a crew from a Los Angeles television station arriving to film material in 2003, when Ryan Hoag was Mr. Irrelevant. Hoag judged a Miss Irrelevant contest in which contestants competed to be his date.

“Gals would get rambunctious and take clothes off to show, ‘I should be Miss Irrelevant,'” Fitch said. “It was like a Bachelor party gone wild. (The film crew) had to go out on the sidewalk, saying, ‘We can’t use any of this stuff.’ But we haven’t had people taking clothes off for a while.”

Fitch said that with camera phones so prevalent now, many of the more adult activities have been eliminated because the Mr. Irrelevant folks don’t want players to be seen “doing anything that would compromise their chances” to make the team.

Ex-Broncos quarterback Chad Kelly poses with a surfboard in Newport Beach, Calif., as part of Irrelevant Week festivities in 2017.

About the most risque thing that has happened lately is Mr. Irrelevant being given women’s lingerie. Other gag gifts have included pieces of carpet for cushioning in the expectation the player will spend a lot of time on the bench, a puppy dog wearing an “Underdog” cape as seen in the old cartoon and something to do with a million bucks. Unfortunately, it was one day’s interest on $1 million, about $140.

Hoag, a wide receiver who was selected by the Oakland Raiders the year before they took Sommersell last, never played in an NFL regular-season game. But he did go on to appear on television shows “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor Pad.”

As for success in the NFL, initially it was rare for any Lowsman Trophy recipient to get into even one regular-season game. Of the first 18 Mr. Irrelevants, only five appeared in at least one game.

But things began to change as the draft was cut from 17 rounds to 12 to eight and then to the current seven in 1984. Since 1994, 20 of the 32 Mr. Irrelevants have ended up seeing game action, including 12 of the last 13.

The most successful Mr. Irrelevant by far has been quarterback Brock Purdy, taken No. 262 overall out of Iowa State by San Francisco in 2022. He became a starter late in his rookie year, led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second season, and has remained one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.

“He doesn’t want to be called Mr. Irrelevant anymore, and rightfully so,” Fitch said. “But we’re glad he’s doing well and we want him to continue to do well. He’s put us stronger on the map.”

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy, who is, by far, the most successful “Mr. Irrelevant,” poses with the Lowsman Trophy after being selected with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Come Saturday, the Broncos will look to find another gem with the last pick in the draft. That is, if they don’t trade the selection.

Fitch sure hopes that won’t be the case. She is hopeful of bringing a Broncos jersey to the draft with “257” on it, and said she is thinking about there being some sort of Mr. Irrelevant celebration in Denver if the Broncos indeed keep the pick. But just to be sure, she also will travel to Pittsburgh with a generic white jersey with “Mr. Irrelevant” and “257” written on it in black letters.

Article is written by Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette. The original article can be found here: https://www.denvergazette.com/2026/04/20/with-broncos-in-line-to-pick-last-in-nfl-draft-more-mr-irrelevant-frivolity-awaits/