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Irrelevant
Week
The Last Player of NFL Draft Gets Treated Like a Top Pick
Mr. Irrelevant,
Ramzee Robinson, poses with the PubClubettes.
Image finally realizing a childhood dream
and being selected in the NFL Draft.
All those visions of playing football for a living, being part of a
professional team and getting paid a professional football salary.
 Then
you're told that before you can get to your first training camp, you've
got to go through an initiation where, for an entire week, you'll be
mocked, made fun of and generally get so many pokes to the ribs you'll
feel like a piece of meat at Tuscaloosa's famous Dreamland Ribs.
Well all that's just fine with Ramzee Robinson.
You see, Robinson is Mr. Irrelevant for 2007.
 He's
just the latest in a long line of athletes who have made their mark
by hardly making a mark. Mr. Irrelevant, you see, honors not the top
pick in the draft, but the very last. It was started 28 years ago by
a USC Trojan fan, Paul Salata, with an obvious sense of humor. Today,
it has grown into a multi-day event – Irrelevant Week, of course
– with a long list of sponsors and a tie-in to a charity (in 2007
it was the 1/1 Marine Battalion of Camp Pendleton, CA).
Those events include a welcoming reception, banquet dinner that presents
the Lowsman Trophy (opposite of the Heisman), a trip to Disneyland –
yes, Mr. Irrelevant goes to Disneyland – an Anaheim Angeles game,
a beach and boating day and a tailgate party. It's all held in beautiful
Newport
Beach, CA, which is perhaps one big reason why no one
has ever turned down the "celebration."
For his part, Robinson enjoyed his time in the sarcastic spotlight.
(After all, he's then got to go to Detroit, for he was chosen by the
Lions).
 "The
draft wasn't over for five minutes when I got a call from Melanie Salata-Fitch
(Irrelevant Week CEO)," Robinson said, beer in hand, PubClubettes
by his side during the event-ending tailgate party. "At first I
was upset I wasn't drafted earlier. After all, I'm a competitor.
"But Melanie told me of all the great things associated with Irrelevant
Week and everything has been perfect. In fact, it's been better than
what she said; it's been great.
"I've really cherished this week. The highlight was going to the
Angels game. Normally they have the featured person of the game throw
out the first pitch. But I was dragging the infield. The head groundskeeper
was yelling at me and it was on the jumbotron. It was so funny."
Robinson, from Huntsville, Ala., who was a standout defensive back
on one of the nation's top defenses at the University of Alabama, showed
his humble Southern roots throughout the week. Interviewed by media
outlets ranging from the NFL to ESPN to local newspapers and TV, in
addition to PubClub, he was always friendly and accommodating. It was
his first trip to Los Angeles and he glowed brighter than the city's
famous sunshine.
He also quickly understood Irrelevant Week for what it is - a tongue-in-cheek
celebration before the back-breaking, sweat-popping process of trying
to make an NFL team.
 "You
don't want to take this too serious," he said. "Because it's
not serious. It's all about the fun.
"Except for the Lowsman banquet – that's what this is all
about. It's not me, but the image of Mr. Irrelevant.
"Because it IS irrelevant where you are taken in the draft. It's
all about performing when you get there.
"And I'm with a team that wants me, so I'm happy.
"This week has been good because it really makes me more determined
when I get to camp to prove everyone they were wrong in not taking me
sooner."
And what did Mr. Irrelevant think of the PubClubettes, whom PubClub
brought to spice up the tailgate party?
"My momma taught me not to stare," he said with a smile.
The PubClubettes
prepare for their meeting with Mr. Irrelevant.
 Next
stop on the Party Bus: Dining in L.A.
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