The 2023 NFL draft is over. 259 junior players are selected by the teams, with the very last one receiving a lot of attention. “Mr. Irrelevant” this year is Desjuan Johnson. There is a happy ending for two German football hopes.
“Mr. Irrelevant” – that’s what it says on the jersey that gets the last pick in the NFL draft. A nasty choice of words – after all, nobody wants to be considered irrelevant. Especially not a young footballer who dreams of a great career. But the assignment of the jersey is – like everything in the draft – provided with a spectacle, the stir around the last is much greater than around the penultimate. So the choice is an honor after all.
This year Desjuan Johnson is the recipient of the defensive linesman’s pick from the Los Angeles Rams in 259th and last position. The 1.9m tall, 120kg man previously played for the Toledo Rockets and is happy to have been selected.
When asked if there was anything unique about being picked as “Mr. Irrelevant”, he said: “Everything is unique. Just being picked, last pick, first pick, middle pick, everything is unique.”
According to the Rams’ general manager, Les Snead, it was not at all clear that he had just chosen the last pick, because the number always fluctuates a bit, last year 262 players were drafted. “I don’t remember us ever doing that, so it was kind of funny,” Snead said.
Metz and Kilian sign in the NFL
Johnson was the last to be elected. He was lucky enough to get drafted, but many other youngsters didn’t get drafted. Of the 259 players, only seven come from abroad. The Germans Kilian Zierer, Lorenz Metz and Marlon Werthmann also went empty-handed in the draft. But for Zierer and Metz, the dreams of a professional career could still come true. The two signed with Teams after the draft.
Metz has joined the Chicago Bears, as his previous collegiate team, the Cincinnati Bearcats, announced. Metz, who is from Neuötting in Bavaria, wrote on Twitter: “I can’t wait to get to work. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity.”
Zierer has signed with the Houston Texans, he says in an interview with “RTL”. “I’m very happy with that.” The 23-year-old has played for the Auburn Tigers in the top college league since 2020. Now his life is shifting to Houston, where he will initially continue with the rookie camp. The native of Munich had previously spoken of his dream in the “RTL” interview that the third day of the draft would be a “very long, very exciting and very nervous day” for him. Now he had to hold out even longer – with a happy ending.
“My goal is to be an NFL starter one day,” he had said. He also confessed that today’s RTL expert and former Super Bowl champion Sebastian Vollmer is his “greatest role model”. “As a German, he was a seven-year starter and won the Super Bowl twice,” he enthused about his career achievements.
The two will first have to recommend each other for a permanent contract for the coming season in the pre-season. Both the Texans and the Bears missed the playoffs significantly last season, with three wins each they were the weakest teams in the American Football League.
Purdy shines as “Mr. Irrelevant” in the NFL
For Desjuan Johnson, the conditions are only slightly better. But who knows, maybe “Mr. Irrelevant” will soon become “Mr. Relevant” again, Johnson has a role model in mind. Quarterback Brock Purdy was the last draft pick last season.
After just a week, he took over as a regular for the San Francisco 49ers because first Trey Lance and then Jimmy Garoppolo were injured. Purdy suddenly became the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to throw a pass, the only one in the draft’s era since 1967 to start and win a playoff game as quarterback.
He continued the 49ers’ winning streak and helped them reach the NFC Championship Game. The fans spontaneously taped over the IR on “Irrelevant” and that’s how Purdy became “Mr. Relevant”. But the team’s bad luck with injuries also hit Purdy, who tore the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow of his throwing arm in the championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy and the Eagles went undefeated until the semifinals, only the 7:31 loss was Purdy’s first defeat in nine NFL games. Purdy has to pause for at least six months – a fairy tale with a crash landing.
But the other “Mr. Irrelevant” can give Johnson hope. According to ESPN, the last ten have each played at least one game in the NFL. Last season, four most recent draft picks played in the league.
Johnson is looking forward to his time with the Rams: “I’m very blessed. I’m blessed that God chose me and I’m blessed that I can continue to play the game I love and I’ll be on top of that Give everything on the field and in training.”
Golf and Disneyland after the NFL Draft
Johnson is sure to get the attention. As an aside, there’s something else that makes the vote for “Mr. Irrelevant” quite pleasant: every year he and his family are invited to Newport Beach, California. Play golf for a week, visit Disneyland and charities, compete in a sailing regatta, attend a baseball game. Irrelevant Week was started in 1976 by former NFL player Paul Salata.
“We created Irrelevant Week to convey an important message: It is not a disadvantage to be drafted last in the NFL Draft, but rather an honor to be selected at all,” reads the week’s website salata
“The demonstration of the staying power of the last draft pick is a lesson that resonates not only with NFL players and fans, but with people around the world.” The festival week honors football’s underdog while raising funds, raising more than a million dollars each year. So not only a lot of training and waiting for a mission awaits Johnson – but also a lot of fun.
Anya Rau