NFL Draft: Orange County to Welcome Mr. Irrelevant

South Carolina tight end Justice Cunningham received the designation as the honoree for the 38th annual “Irrelevant Week” in Orange County when the Indianapolis Colts made him the final player chosen in the NFL draft.

A number of events are tentatively scheduled for June 19-22 to honor Cunningham, including a roast at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, where he will receive the “Lowsman Trophy,” which depicts a player fumbling a football.

Cunningham, who became the latest person to be dubbed as Mr. Irrelevant for being chosen last, will also visit Disneyland, attend a Major League Baseball game and sail in the Balboa Yacht Club Regatta, according to Meredith Cagle, the executive director of Irrelevant Week.

“You’re going to have the week of your life,” Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata said after announcing the choice at the site of the draft, Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The 6-foot-4, 264-pound Cunningham caught 23 passes for 324 yards, both career highs, in the 2012 season. He was raised in Pageland, S.C, and has a brother named Power and sisters named Promise and Sincere.

The Colts were awarded the 254th and last choice in the draft as compensation for losing more or better compensatory free agents than they acquired. Under NFL rules, all compensatory draft choices cannot be traded.

Irrelevant Week has given more than $1 million to charitable organizations, Cagle said. It has selected Special Olympics Southern California as its 2013 charitable recipient.

“Mr. Irrelevant is a favorite of those who believe in the underdog,” Irrelevant Week Chairman Jerry McGee said. “He will have a unique connection to many of the 13,000 Special Olympics athletes in Southern California.”

Salata told City News Service he founded Irrelevant Week in 1976 as a way to honor “underdogs and people who don’t get much attention,'' compared to “quarterbacks, running backs and MVPs” who are constantly in the limelight.

Salata, a former end for USC and three NFL teams, said he dubbed the event Irrelevant Week after hearing protesters in Berkeley in the 1960s frequently use the word.

The event’s motto is “Doing something nice for someone for no reason.”

-City News Service