If you’ve ever been the last player picked for anything, then perhaps you can identify with something the NFL calls “Mr. Irrelevant.” It’s been a tradition since 1976, when former wide receiver Paul Savata came up with the grand idea that the last player picked in the NFL draft should be celebrated and rejoiced.
Savata, 82, wasn’t the last player taken when he was drafted out of USC in 1951. He was a 10th-round selection, the 110th pick overall, by the Steelers that particular year when the NFL draft actually went 30 rounds. But years later, he was able to convince the league that that being picked last overall shouldn’t come with any negative stigma attached to it.