With the last pick in the draft, the Broncos can change one young man’s life

Gold watches, groupies, celebrities and fancy cars. These are just some of the perks of being picked dead last in the NFL draft, according to Melanie Salata-Fitch, CEO of Irrelevant Week. Not only do the Broncos own the last pick this year, they own both of the last two picks. Salata-Fitch joined Walsh and T.J. on Mile High Sports Radio to talk about the celebration her father founded to honor the last pick of the NFL draft, now known as “Mr. Irrelevant.”

“We’ll tailor the week according to what they like,” Salata-Fitch said. “So each time it’s different. We ask them what’s their favorite food, and what’s their favorite celebrity and what’s their favorite car, so they can drive a Lamborghini around, and they can go meet Will Ferrell or Halle Berry.”

Those aren’t the only benefits Mr. Irrelevant has to look forward to. The organizers and participants at Irrelevant Week ensure that Mr. Irrelevant feels every bit as important as the highly paid first pick in the NFL.

“It’s all fun for them. They have groupies that follow them around, everybody has shirts with their name on it, and the marquees all around Newport have their name on it. They welcome Mr. Irrelevant,” she said.

The lucky player also gets an awards ceremony all to himself. The last pick of the draft is given that year’s Lowsman trophy, a tongue-in-cheek homage to the Heisman trophy, though on the Lowsman trophy instead of a muscular arm being extended to deflect defenders, the player on the trophy is fumbling the ball.

The Denver Broncos actually owned last year’s final pick of the draft as well, but traded the pick away to Tennessee.

In reality, many Mr. Irrelevants see little of NFL playing fields. Irrelevant Week gives these players the NFL celebrity experience and gives them tangible memories to commemorate their status as a draftee.

“They’ll get like over 200 gifts from the community,” Salata-Fitch said. “They get a gold watch from the NFL, because it’s irrelevant because he might never play, so he might as well have a watch to retire with.”

Listen to the whole interview, including Salata-Fitch’s revelation about her favorite Mr. Irrelevant (Hint: he went to school in Boulder), in the podcast below.

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