COLUMN: Mr. Irrelevant is relevant

   There have been many times in my column that I’ve written about the NFL draft and I’ve always mentioned the last pick in the draft, number 262 being labeled Mr. Irrelevant.

   During this past year’s draft that distinction went to Iowa State QB Brock Purdy, who was selected by the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy became the first quarterback in NFL history to start a game as Mr. Irrelevant when he took on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers last Sunday.

   Brock took over for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo who was replacing the injured Trey Lance. You never want to dip down to your third stringer if you can at all help it.

   Purdy and the 49ers got the best of Tom Brady. Purdy isn’t just your everyday third string QB. He had a tremendous career at Iowa State and played Sunday night like he was a seasoned veteran.

   I like stats and I like this one a lot: Purdy (age 22) wasn’t even born yet when Tom Brady (45) threw his first NFL pass. Purdy is also the first NFL QB to defeat Brady in his first NFL start.

   Something I did not know about being pick number 262 is you get to spend a week of early summer in Newport Beach for a week of festivities. The celebration was launched in 1976 by NFL alumnus Paul Salata, driving home the message that it’s not a negative to be picked as the last player taken in the draft.

   Iowa State alumnus Brock Purdy is seeing to that being the case. He is taken on this role and doing what needs to be done, delivering wins over a legend and leading his team to what could be a playoff run for the rookie signal caller.