In the run-up to this weekend’s Super Bowl featuring the defending NFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers, we will be treated to a smorgasbord of alpha broadcasters talking, dissecting and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of alpha athletes who comprise the rosters both teams.
And it will all be good fun.
But I’m dedicating this Super Bowl blog to all of us who have ever been chosen last when it came to picking teams on the playground. We know who we are. You never forget that moment (or moments) of being selected last. They tend to produce one of two responses: either they make you feel resigned to being a “leftover,” or they make you determined to rewrite the script and not only get in the game but dominate it.
When the two squads of alpha competitors finally take the field in Las Vegas on Sunday, all of them can feel proud of what they’ve accomplished.
But one in particular, 49er quarterback Brock Purdy, should feel just a little bit prouder.
Indeed, not even two years have elapsed since Purdy received the dubious distinction of being selected dead last in that ruthless playground known as the NFL Draft. Unlike the common American playground, the draft doesn’t let the last player left standing slink away quietly into the background. No, the NFL actually makes him the guest of honor at Mr. Irrelevant Week, which, since 1976, has featured parades and various other activities celebrating the dubious distinction while raising funds for charity.
Just imagine devoting your early life to an endeavor and then being handed the title of Mr. Irrelevant. Purdy could have been forgiven if he had let the whole thing play with his mind a little bit.
