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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Nothing 'irrelevant' about pick

 •  Elimimian hopes to make his dream reality

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

In New York, where the annual NFL Draft begins Saturday, the world of pro football waits to see who will be the No. 1 pick and all that it confers.

Meanwhile, in Newport Beach, Calif., they wait excitedly, too. Not for the identity of No. 1, but for his opposite, the 255th — and last — player to be taken Sunday.

Thirty years ago, when the NFL draft lasted an exhausting 17 rounds and went to the 487th selection, some folks in Newport Beach decided to try and make it as festive for the final guy — who was then given little chance of making a roster and thus dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant" — as it was for the No. 1 pick.

Now, with the draft pared to seven rounds and the final pick standing a 50/50 chance of making the opening day roster, there is relevance and prestige but no let up in the week-long festivities or generosity of this semi-official draft event.

As they scan the draft projections for a possible No. 255 as keenly as the rest of the country invests its energy in divining a No. 1, some wonder if a Hawai'i player might be the 30th anniversary honoree.

Indeed, if ever a UH player might have a shot at it, this could be the year. Three Warriors, Tim Chang, Abraham Elimimian and Chad Owens, are draft hopefuls. By most accounts, they figure to be late-round players, if taken, which would seem to put them in the pool that "Irrelevant Week" has traditionally drawn from.

That Chang, college football's career passing record holder, could conceivably come their way as the New England Patriots' pick, "would be awesome," one long-time organizer said.

Far from carrying a stigma, the draft's last pick is made to feel like first-round royalty at "Irrelevant Week" in June. Ironically, so successful and so big a production — motto: "Irrelevant Week means doing something nice for somebody for no reason" — has it become that its guests of honor have been made anything but irrelevant.

Kahuku's Tevita Ofahengaue, the only high school player from Hawai'i to be "Mr. Irrelevant" liked to say, "I (got) more attention than Michael Vick — and he was the No. 1 pick (in 2001)."

What the NFL doesn't give you in signing bonus money, some say the week-long festivities supply an abundance of hospitality and good times. There is a welcoming banquet, parade and regatta. There are trips to Disneyland, a Major League Baseball game and more than 100 gifts in an unforgettable, whirlwind week.

And, of course, the centerpiece, the "Lowsman Trophy" a bronze takeoff on the Heisman.

In 1988, when Bobby Beathard was general manager of the Washington Redskins and owner of the last pick, he used it to give his son, Jeff, a running back from Towson State, the all expenses-paid trip to "Irrelevant Week."

Could this be the year somebody from UH joins the club?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.