Creator of Mr. Irrelevant Award dies at age 94

Paul Salata, who created the Mr. Irrelevant Award that honors the last selection of the NFL draft after playing football at Southern California and in the NFL and Canadian Football League, died Saturday. He was 94.

He died of natural causes at home in Newport Beach, California, a day before his 95 th birthday, nephew Nick Salata told The Associated Press.

Although the NFL draft dates to 1936, Salata created the Mr. Irrelevant Award in 1976. The player and his family were invited to spend a week in Orange County enjoying activities including a trip to Disneyland and a golf tournament. The honoree received the Lowsman Trophy depicting a player fumbling a football. Kelvin Kirk of Dayton University was the first to be given the title as the 487 th pick that year.

“Irrelevant Week” generated so much publicity that in 1979 the Los Angeles Rams, who owned the next-to-last pick, intentionally passed to let the Steelers, with the last pick, choose first. Pittsburgh also wanted the publicity and passed as well. Both teams refused to choose a player until Commissioner Pete Rozelle forced them to pick, with the Steelers winning. That led to the so-called Salata Rule, which bars teams from passing to get the final selection.

In February, a Mr. Irrelevant played in and won a Super Bowl for the first time. Placekicker Ryan Succop of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started in the game. He was the last pick of the 2009 draft.

Sal at a was a wide receiver at USC in 1944, ‘46 and ‘47. The Trojans won league titles each year and played in the Rose Bowl in 1945, when Salata caught a touchdown in their 25-0 victory over Tennessee. He missed the following season while serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II.