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His name is Kevin McMahan, No. 5 on the University of Maine football team roster, but from now on he might be better known outside the Pine Tree State as Mr. Irrelevant, No. 255 on the 2006 NFL Draft list.
After the Oakland Raiders closed out the seventh and final round of the NFL Draft Sunday by taking the Black Bears wide receiver with the 255th overall pick, McMahan became the 31st Mr. Irrelevant, the last player chosen in the draft.
“I had already started looking at free agency because I thought the 49ers would take me just before that,” said McMahan, who caught 59 passes for 893 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. “Then somebody called and I hadn’t even talked to the Raiders, so I thought someone was playing a joke on me. Then I saw my name on the TV screen and I just stopped and stared at it.”
As Mr. Irrelevant, the 23-year-old Rochester, N.Y., native will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Newport Beach, Calif., in June as the Irrelevant Week guest of honor. He’ll receive the Lowsman Trophy (opposite of Heisman) and participate in a golf tournament, regatta, banquet, parade and parties.
“It’s just crazy. They were telling me about all the things that go along with it,” McMahan said Sunday between nonstop phone calls and interviews. “I’ve never gotten so many calls in my entire life.”
Mr. Irrelevant resulted from founder Paul Salata’s idea to celebrate the underdog in 1976. He used the NFL Draft selection of obscure University of Dayton player Kelvin Kirk (487th overall) as the vehicle and Irrelevant Week was born.
If being the last player an NFL team uses a draft pick on qualifies as Mr. Irrelevant, what does being one of the first undrafted amateur players to sign a free-agent contract make you?
In this case, it makes you UMaine senior tailback Montell Owens, who was on the phone with the Jacksonville Jaguars as good friend McMahan was being told to report to Raiders minicamp on Thursday.
“Oh man, it’s such a relief. It’s unbelievable,” said Owens, who spent the weekend at McMahan’s house watching the draft with his good friend and teammate. “We both got phone calls at the same time. I saw his name flash across the screen and I’m on the phone with the Jaguars and I just started jumping up and down.”
Owens, who led the Bears with 779 yards and nine touchdowns rushing in his only season as a starter, had his choice of signing with the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins or the Jaguars. All three called him repeatedly during Sunday’s rounds (fourth through the seventh) and offered him free-agent contracts. Since he, McMahan, and senior linebacker Jermaine Walker all worked out during UMaine’s “pro workout” day earlier this year, it’s been like waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.
“Let me tell you, for the past week, there have been bags under our eyes. I couldn’t even sleep last night,” said Owens, a Wilmington, Del., native who will turn 22 Thursday and report to the Jaguars minicamp a week later. “I put in all this hard work. Maybe I didn’t have the opportunities I would have liked and I can’t control what chances I get, but I can control what I do if I get a chance.”
Owens said he picked the Jags, who drafted just one running back (UCLA’s Maurice Drew in the second round, No. 60 overall), because they seemed to offer the best chance for a back to make the squad.
“They have backs, but their top guy is kind of injury-prone and I think they really only have two every-down backs, plus I’m not just a number going in because they know me,” said Owens, who was contacted personally by Jags running backs coach Kennedy Pola.
Owens couldn’t divulge his contract terms or what signing bonus, if any, he’d get since he hadn’t yet received a contract.
UMaine football coach Jack Cosgrove was elated by McMahan’s and Owens’ good news.
“We’d never had a player picked since the NFL went to seven rounds and nobody since 1990 when they had 12 with [Mike] Buck, [Scott] Hough and [Justin] Strzelczyk,” Cosgrove said. “This is pretty special.”
Cosgrove said having players sign with NFL teams not only elevates his program’s stature and visibility, but also has a carryover effect.
“It shows younger kids in the program that hard work and dedication do pay off,” he explained. “That elevates the play of everyone in the program and raises their aspirations.”
Walker had not agreed to a contract as of press time.
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