Larry Wanke is greeted the same way every time he joins his friends to play cards.
“I can’t tell you how many people are calling me ‘Brock Purdy,’ ” Wanke told The Post last week between his real estate showings in Ohio. “I walk in and guys say, ‘Hey, Brock.’ The whole thing from 30 years ago has been rejuvenated.”
The Giants selected Wanke — a quarterback from John Carroll University — with the final pick of the 1991 NFL Draft. He was the annual so-called “Mr. Irrelevant” long before Purdy, who has risen from the last pick (No. 262 overall) in 2022 to the starting quarterback for the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII and an NFL MVP finalist.
“I love a good underdog story,” Wanke said. “He’s proven time and time again that he can play. We forget that in bar-room conversations when we say, ‘He fell into the right situation.’ He fell into the right situation and made it happen. That’s a totally different story.”
The Post contacted four past Mr. Irrelevants to see if Purdy, 24, is living out their own dreams. It turns out there is a natural sense of kinship in cheering for Purdy to succeed, including leading the 49ers past the Chiefs next Sunday.
“It was always kind of fun seeing who gets picked last,” said former kicker Ryan Succop, who held the distinction in 2009. “You find yourself rooting for that guy. It’s a cool fraternity — something only one guy each year gets to be a part of — so you have to stick together.”
Mr. Irrelevant is the guest of honor for weeklong post-draft festivities in Newport Beach, Calif. — an idea birthed by the late Paul Salata in 1976.
The celebration includes a banquet that ends up more like a roast, players agree, and a parade at Disneyland.
When Marty Moore held the title in 1994, Patriots fans who saw him around Boston wrongly shouted “Hey, Mr. Insignificant!” By the time it was Chandler Harnish’s turn in 2012, a televised spectacle was made of unveiling a team jersey with “Mr. Irrelevant” and the draft pick number on the back.
The emotion of Harnish’s moment was intensified because it was the Colts — his favorite team growing up in Indiana — making the selection.
“My stock value has gone up since Brock Purdy has taken the Mr. Irrelevant name to new heights,” quipped Harnish, who works in sales after spending four years in the NFL. “It’s actually helped my cause with my buddies, clients and old teammates. One of my old teammates used to say, ‘Iiiiiirelevant’ whenever I went in to take a snap. My story is Brock has made it cool, and I’m sticking to it.”
home. Courtesy of Chandler Harnish
Before he was running downfield on kickoffs as the first “fraternity” member to play in the Super Bowl — for the Patriots against the Packers in 1996 — Moore’s first “tackle” as an NFL linebacker was supposed to be against Mickey Mouse as part of a Disney-arranged gimmick. Something went very wrong, however.
“They open a door you have to run through, and it was kind of dark,” Moore said. “Only Mickey was not Mickey. It was Minnie. She has this huge dress skirt on, and she is running toward me and I’m running toward her. When I stopped, the dress skirt hit me and she went flying backwards. She’s on the ground, I’m picking her up, and I feel terrible.”
In addition to a job in medical sales where he coincidentally crosses paths with 1992 “Mr. Irrelevant” Matt Elliott, Moore also serves as NFL Legends Director. The role brought him last week to the East-West Shrine Bowl — a college all-star showcase in Frisco, Texas — to share with prospects his unlikely journey to an eight-year pro career.
Calif., like 1991 Giants pick Larry Wanke. Courtesy of Larry Wanke
Moore was the first Mr. Irrelevant to start a game (four) as a rookie in 1994 and earned his Super Bowl ring while on injured reserve with the Patriots in 2001. Purdy’s name buzzed as inspiration around the breeding ground for soon-to-be mid- and late-round draft picks.
“I look at Brock Purdy,” Moore said, “and I think, ‘Here’s a guy like the rest of us, who was a little undersized, maybe not super-fast or super athletic, but we are football players. We are students of the game. We kept our head down and took coaching.’ ”
Succop was the first Mr. Irrelevant to win a Super Bowl as an active participant. It took until his 12th season, when he and a fellow free agent named Tom Brady signed with the Buccaneers in 2020.
It seems obvious that Succop would be a Chiefs fan for the Super Bowl. Kansas City drafted him No. 256 overall, and he is raising a Patrick Mahomes-crazed 8-year-old son.
But …
“Here I am pulling for Brock, which puts me in an interesting spot,” said Succop, who briefly chatted with Purdy after their shared background after a game last season.
“Certainly I’m a fan from the Mr. Irrelevant standpoint, but more so just from the kind of person he is when you hear him speak and how he handles himself. He’s obviously gained the respect of his teammates and coaches. That’s something I really respect and appreciate. It’s pretty awesome to see when people take advantage of whatever opportunity they are given.”
in 1994 when he was drafted by
the Patriots. Photo Courtesy of Marty Moore
Purdy is one of just six quarterbacks drafted last since 1976. Harnish, who just Googled the list last week, and Wanke best fit in Purdy’s shoes as two of the other five.
Wanke’s NFL career was over after a few weeks of training camp. Head coach Ray Handley cut him before the first preseason game amid Jeff Hostetler and Phil Simms battling to start for the defending Super Bowl champions.
“I saw in camp, at that level you have to be so incredibly gifted or want it with every ounce of your being, and I don’t think I checked either of those boxes,” Wanke said. “My goal ever since I was little was to get drafted — I don’t know why — and I did. I should’ve had a goal of being a Hall of Famer!”
Harnish never took a regular-season snap, sitting behind a pre-injury Andrew Luck. But his Mr. Irrelevant legacy is a “great icebreaker” in business conversations.
“I hate to see the criticisms that Brock gets — the game manager, not a guy that is thought of as a long-term answer — but I love to see how he proves people wrong week by week. What else are you looking for?” Harnish said.
“You get a certain label where you are a late-round draft pick. Absolutely, you get a chip on your shoulder. Naturally, sometimes, I think, ‘What could’ve been for me?’ But I’m at peace knowing what I was able to do. I couldn’t be happier for a guy like that.”
Because Purdy seized an unexpected opportunity when quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were injured last season, the title “Mr. Irrelevant” has never been so relevant.
“It doesn’t really matter where I got drafted,” Moore said. “It’s where I finished.”
That sentiment binds the group.