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Succop gets his day in the sun
Ryan Succop receives a Dalmatian from the Newport Beach fire department as part of the "Shower of Gifts" at a banquet held in his honor at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort on Monday.
Ana Venegas /The Orange County Register
Written by RANDY YOUNGMAN
The Orange County Register
Posted on 06.24.09
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NEWPORT BEACH, Va.
IT MUST BE GREAT TO BE Kobe Bryant, the recently crowned NBA finals MVP who last week was honored at Disneyland and then took in an Angels-Dodgers game from front-row seats at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
But Kobe has nothing on Ryan Succop.
USC’s Succop, dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant XXXIV” after the Kansas City Chiefs made him the last pick in this year’s NFL draft, is being toasted and roasted in Orange County for an entire week.
Like Kobe, Succop and his entourage also were invited as guests to Disneyland, where Tuesday morning Mr. Irrelevant rode the Matterhorn, just as Kobe had a few days ago, and played football catch with the Queen of Hearts.
Hours later, he was off to Angel Stadium for the Angels-Rockies game, where the home team planned to present him with an authentic Angels jersey bearing his name and No. 256 (his draft position) and allow him to drag the infield with the grounds crew during the game — an Irrelevant Week tradition for honorees.
No, Succop did not get a parade through downtown Los Angeles, as Kobe and the rest of the Lakers did last week, but Mr. Irrelevant did receive a hero’s welcome Monday night at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort. And he has done absolutely nothing in his pro career yet!
“It’s definitely something I’m not used to,” Succop said, smiling sheepishly after Monday’s Irrelevant Week kickoff at Newport Dunes.
He arrived in a small boat towed by outrigger canoes, to a thunderous ovation from several hundred well-wishers chanting his name while Los Alamitos High cheerleaders and song girls dressed in Pocahontas costumes emitted politically incorrect Native American war whoops (Hold your protests; if Succop makes the team, he’s going to kick for the Chiefs, whose very existence is politically incorrect).
With the rock band “Pinch Me!” blaring the Wilbert Harrison classic “Kansas City” as background music, Succop climbed into the catbird’s seat atop a lifeguard tower, where he dutifully smiled and blushed as he was showered with proclamations and presented with dozens of gifts, a few of which actually were useful.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent him a gold watch, which presumably has more value than the one-way ticket on the Balboa Island ferry he was presented.
While Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata, 82, identified each of the gifts and their sponsors, he made certain the Pocahontas-dressed presenters also gave a high leg kick before handing over the graft to Succop.
“I’ve played with some kickers; they’re always separated from the team,” Salata said. “You don’t want to catch anything from them.”
There will be plenty more quips and rips during tonight’s “Lowsman Trophy” banquet at the Newport Beach Marriott, where NFL players will roast Succop and wonder aloud whom his agent bribed to get the Chiefs to offer him a three-year, $1.2 million contract. That kind of money makes it sound as if the Chiefs are counting on his making the roster.
“I hope so,” Succop said, confirming the terms of his contract, which, of course, is contingent on his making the team.
Succop said he is looking forward to Chiefs training camp beginning next month. But first he wants to enjoy the rest of Irrelevant Week with his family and friends, an itinerary punctuated Thursday by a yacht cruise, surfing lessons and judging a bikini contest at a Newport Beach pub.
Eat your heart out, Kobe.
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