Let’s get to it:
ED SWARTZ FROM NORWICH, OH:
The last pick in the draft is referred to as Mr. Irrelevant. Have the Steelers ever had the last pick in the draft, and if so who were the players and how did they fare?
ANSWER: First, a little explanation, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Mr. Irrelevant is the title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft. Although the NFL Draft dates back to 1936, the first person to officially be given the ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ title was Kelvin Kirk, pick No. 487 of the 1976 draft.”
“Mr. Irrelevant” and “Irrelevant Week” began in 1976, when former NFL wide receiver Paul Salata, who played his college football at USC, founded the event in Newport Beach, California. For the pick and his family, Irrelevant Week included a week in Newport Beach for a golf tournament, a regatta, a roast giving advice to the new draftee, and a ceremony to award him the Lowsman Trophy.
The Steelers made the final picks in 1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980, and they actually picked the first Mr. Irrelevant. Kelvin Kirk, a wide receiver from Dayton who was the final pick of the 1976 NFL Draft, but he didn’t make the team. In 1979, the Steelers picked Northwestern State wide receiver Mike Almond, but he also didn’t make the roster.
In 1980, the Steelers used the final pick of the draft on Tyrone McGriff, a guard from Florida A&M. McGriff not only made the team as a rookie, but he also started 10 games for the Steelers at right guard that season. McGriff ended up playing three season for the Steelers, and he appeared in 36 games over that period with those 10 starts as a rookie.
Even though the Steelers won Super Bowls in 2005 and 2008, they didn’t have the final pick in either of those drafts, because by then the NFL had instituted the program of awarding compensatory picks to teams based on losses sustained during free agency.
ROGER HALECKY FROM MESA, AZ:
I watched a highlight reel on Steelers.com that was posted on April 21. There’s an amazing play against Minnesota where Watt batted a ball thrown by Case Keenum, then the play was whistled dead. My question is, why was that not a live ball if it landed behind the line of scrimmage?
ANSWER: I just watched the video myself, and I encourage all of those know-it-alls who ripped…
