Near the end of Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan pulled starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, sending in rookie passer Brock Purdy. The Chiefs had a 21-point lead with under four minutes remaining, and it was time to empty the bench a bit.
Brock Purdy made Mr. Irrelevant history with just one pass
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy made some NFL history on Sunday
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
Moments later, the rookie quarterback would accomplish an NFL first.
Purdy completed his first NFL passing attempt, to become the first “Mr. Irrelevant” in NFL history to complete a pass in an NFL regular season game.
The 49ers drafted Purdy in the seventh round last spring, out of Iowa State, and made him this year’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” the title given to the last pick in each NFL draft. Dating back to 1976, when when former NFL receiver Paul Salata created “Irrelevant Week,” there have been six quarterbacks drafted last overall, including Purdy: Randy Essington, Larry Wanke, Ronnie McAda, Chandler Harnish, Chad Kelly and Purdy. The Baltimore Colts drafted George Haffner in the 20th round of the 1965 draft, before the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” was recognized.
Until Sunday, none of those players had completed a pass in the NFL. Kelly has appeared in nine CFL games this season for the Toronto Argonauts, and has completed two of his four passes.
That all changed with this play in the fourth quarter:
As noted by baseball writer Christina Kahrl, Purdy made history with the completion, doing so on the first attempt of his NFL career:
Unfortunately for Purdy, while his first NFL drive began with a completion, it ended with an interception.
But the fact that Purdy accomplished this feat speaks to the preseason he turned in for the 49ers, as he earned a roster spot during training camp. Back in August, when the 49ers reached a new deal with Jimmy Garoppolo, Shanahan said that he was comfortable with Purdy as the team’s backup, given how performed during the preseason:
So it does seem like Purdy’s NFL career might last a lot longer than the careers of the other quarterbacks who earned the “Mr. Irrelevant” title. But for Purdy, his career has already made some NFL history.
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