Will Brock Purdy be the first ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ QB to win the Super Bowl?
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will continue making history on Sunday when he plays in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.
By taking part in the game, Purdy will become the third “Mr. Irrelevant” to play in the Super Bowl, according to USA Today.
Why is Brock Purdy ‘Mr. Irrelevant’?
Purdy earned the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant” when the 49ers picked him with the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft.
The nickname “Mr. Irrelevant” has been given to the player selected with the last pick in the NFL draft since 1976 when former San Francisco 49ers receiver and “Mr. Irrelevant” Paul Salata created “Irrelevant Week” to celebrate each draft’s last pick, as the Deseret News previously reported.
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Has a ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ quarterback ever made the Super Bowl?
Purdy will be the first “Mr. Irrelevant” quarterback to ever play in the Super Bowl. The other two “Mr. Irrelevants” to make the Super Bowl were linebacker Marty Moore and kicker Ryan Succop, according to USA Today.
Last season, Purdy became the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to complete a forward pass and touchdown pass, as well as the first quarterback selected in the last round of the NFL draft — since it moved to seven rounds in 1994 — to start in a playoff game, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Has ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ ever won the Super Bowl?
If the 49ers beat the Chiefs Sunday, Purdy would not become the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to win the Super Bowl. He would be the third.
Moore was the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to play in a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in 1997, but lost to the Green Bay Packers.
In 2001, he made it back to the Super Bowl with the Patriots and became the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to win the Super Bowl. That Super Bowl was the first of quarterback Tom Brady’s career.
Moore wasn’t a part of any of the Patriots’ other five Super Bowl-winning teams. He was released by the team in the spring of 2002 and didn’t play another season in the NFL, according to the Patriots.
In 2021, Succop became the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to start in a Super Bowl when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chiefs, who drafted him in 2009.
Reaching the Super Bowl is a historic feat for Purdy, Moore and Succop. Since the Super Bowl Era started in 1966, only 26 of “Mr. Irrelevants” have played a game in the NFL, per USA Today.
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Has ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ ever won MVP?
In his first full season as a starter, Purdy put up MVP-worthy numbers.
He finished the season fifth in passing yards (4,280), third in touchdowns (31), fourth in completion percentage (69.4) — he’s second in quarterbacks who played in more than nine games — and tied with Dak Prescott for first in QBR (72.7), according to ESPN.
This season, Purdy was one of five finalists for the NFL MVP award, along with Prescott, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Christian McCaffrey. Jackson brought home the award Thursday night.
If he had won, Purdy would have been the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to win MVP. He would have passed Tom Brady as the lowest drafted player in the modern NFL era to win the award, according to Sporting News.
But he wouldn’t have been the lowest drafted player to win MVP. That honor belongs to kicker Mark Moseley, who was drafted in the 14th round of the 17-round NFL draft in 1970.
Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner is the only undrafted player to win MVP.
