Brock Purdy is currently playing his first season in the NFL and is directly in the NFC finals. Image: FR171606 AP / Josie Lepe
NFL
In June 2022, Brock Purdy was allowed to let the sun shine on his stomach. As if it weren’t nice enough that he’d just landed a pro contract in the NFL – which he must have dreamed of for a long time – the league treated him to a vacation in Newport Beach, California, to kick things off. The NFL put on a huge week-long spectacle for the San Francisco 49ers’ new third quarterback.
That’s the custom. Since 1976, the NFL has given the title “Mr. Irrelevant” to the young player who is picked last in the draft. The inglorious nickname is sweetened for the players with a trip to Disneyland and a week’s attention. The players take it with humor, after all, they were drafted while hundreds of college star hopes went home without a pro contract.
Experience has shown that the league of unimportant gentlemen lives up to their name, and most of them are never heard from again. With one prominent exception: Brock Purdy.
On Sunday evening, as a starting quarterback, he can lead his San Francisco 49ers into the Super Bowl with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
College athletes apply for lucrative NFL contracts through the draft.Image: ap / John Locher
Brock Purdy: “Mr. Irrelevant”‘s biggest enemy is statistics
Every once in a while, an “unimportant” offensive or defensive lineman manages to qualify for a contract extension after his rookie year. Others happened to be in the roster when their team was having a fabulous season. But no “Mr. Irrelevant” has hit the headlines because of individual sporting achievementsespecially not on the so-called skill positions.
Kicker Ryan Succop was the last player drafted in 2009 and won the Superbowl with the Buccaneers in 2020.Image: imago / ZUMA Wire
There is a simple statistical reason for this: In the draft, 32 players each are selected seven times – plus the complementary picks for teams that have lost many players through trades or career end. Last year there were a total of 262 picks.
That means 261 players were picked before Brock Purdy, and every single NFL team has missed at least six chances to draft him. Obviously, the NFL scouts didn’t have too many hopes for Purdy.
That doesn’t mean he can’t do it. As is well known, Tom Brady was only picked in the sixth round, Kurt Warner was not picked at all and ended up being twice Player of the Year and Super Bowl winner.
Kurt Warner after winning the Super Bowl in 2000. Image: AP / DAVE MARTIN
But of the late picks and “undrafted agents” only very few manage to assert themselves every year. and it is extremely unlikely that the very player who makes it was randomly drafted last.
San Francisco 49ers: Bad luck with injuries is Purdy’s great luck
Purdy also had the disadvantage of being a quarterback. The playmakers are actually only drafted in the seventh round to fill out the roster.
It was no different with Purdy: San Francisco was no longer completely satisfied with longtime starter Jimmy Garoppolo, as he was rarely on the spot in important knockout games. So last year Trey Lance had been drafted in third place and put in front of him. Behind the two, Purdy should only be available as a last resort.
Trey Lance was injured playing the Seahawks.Image: FR171606 AP / Josie Lepe
For Lance, however, the season ended on the second game day when he broke his ankle in the game against the Seahawks. The spurned Garoppolo had to step in but has also been out since December with a foot injury.
Jimmy Garoppolo was injured in the game against the Dolphins.Image: AP / Jed Jacobsohn
So fate sent Brock Purdy onto the field on matchday 13. The 23-year-old became like that in the 33:17 win against the Dolphins the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to ever score a touchdown pass in the NFL.
But Purdy didn’t stop: He won all of the five regular season games remaining after Garoppolo was eliminated. Among other things, he picked the Buccaneers 35-7 in his first game against Tom Brady – again something for the history books.
Under Purdy, the 49ers suddenly rose to No. 2 in the NFC, then knocked out the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs.
Only performance can get Purdy into the storybooks
Purdy also plays well: 18 touchdowns with four interceptions are strong. A passer rating of 107 is really strong. (One more thing for the history books.)
Only Aaron Rodgers had a better QB rating than Purdy in his first two pro games. Image: AP / Matt Ludtke
But his results are even more impressive: Before the season, nobody would have dared to dream that the 49ers, who are actually a defensive team, would suddenly regularly score 30 points or more.
That’s how San Francisco is doing now in the NFC Finals against the 1st-seeded Philadelphia Eagles quite justified hopes of entering the Superbowl.
Similar stories — about a reserve quarterback winning the Superbowl — have existed, albeit rarely. Just think of Nick Foles, who led Philadelphia to the Superbowl in 2018. But a “Mr. Irrelevant”? The historians would have to argue with the fairy tale film directors about the film rights.
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