A funny thing happened a few weeks ago. An athlete from the University of South Carolina was selected as the first pick in the NFL draft. This, in itself, is not ironic. Jadeveon Clowney was expected to go at #1 to the Texans, due to his great athletic ability at defensive end. To fully understand the irony of this pick, you must look back to the draft a year ago.
In the NFL draft, the last pick is titled Mr. Irrelevant. He is treated to a wonderful week filled with things like a media tour and a parade in his honor. What is unspoken yet understood, is that this will likely be the best week he has in his NFL career. Last year, Mr. Irrelevant was a tight end named Justice Cunningham. He was selected with the 254th pick of the 2013 draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He would not stay there for long, as he ended up with the St. Louis Rams, last December. But, he is lucky. Most last picks’ careers are over before the season starts. They end up being cut from the team during training camp. Justice was different. He did the unexpected. He survived training camp. He survived being cut. He continues to persevere. Maybe it’s something he learned at his alma mater…the University of South Carolina.
That’s right. The school selected last in the 2013 NFL Draft became the first pick for 2014.
Life teaches many lessons about the last picked. They are teased, looked down upon and dismissed. I remember being picked last during many PE classes in grade school. My skinny frame and the neighborhood I came from made me easy to overlook; and sometimes, an easy target. But I persevered. What makes the last different is perseverance. It is the drive to work hard and become better. We are more than meets the eye. And when you don’t watch us, we shock the world.
Check out this year’s Mr. Irrelevant in the video below.