In the off-season of 2020, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired an important player who helped them reach the Super Bowl LV.
Tom Brady? Rob Gronkowski? Of course, these are important acquisitions. But we’re talking about Ryan Succop, who may be the most relevant Mr. Irrelevant in the 45-year history of the Irrelevant Week.
In the life of a kicker’s ups and downs, Succop went from rags to wealth more than once in his NFL career. After punching a 46-yard field goal in the final moments to freeze the NFC Championship Game for the Bucs against host Green Bay Packers, he is now at the top of the football world.
In the Bucs’ 31-26 victory over the Packers on January 24 to secure his spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl, Succop converted all four attempts for extra points, along with his clutch field goal with 4:42 left. After Green Bay reached five points, Succop’s critical shot gave the Bucs valuable breathing space and extended their streak of scoring eight consecutive goals.
Succop will face one of his former teams, the Chiefs, in the Super Bowl. Succop was the 256th and last choice in the 2009 NFL draft for Kansas City, from the University of South Carolina. Before ending his debut season with the Chiefs – in which he tied an NFL record for the highest percentage of a novice’s field goal in an 86.2% season – Succop was roasted and roasted in Newport Beach as Mr. Irrelevant .
Succop is the second Mr. Irrelevant to make it to the Super Bowl, after 1994 honoree Marty Moore played in the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. Moore, a Kentucky linebacker, played eight years in the NFL with the Patriots and Browns. New England lost to Green Bay 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI of the 1996 season.
After five years with the Chiefs, Succop spent six seasons with the Tennessee Titans, winning the All-Pro, setting a league record for the highest consecutive field goal within 50 yards (56) and setting the best percentage of field goal of Tennessee’s career before 2019, his final year with the Titans, when a knee injury hindered his performance and season.
Succop signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay ahead of the 2020 campaign and rewarded the Bucs with an outstanding season, twice winning the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. At the end of the regular season, Succop entered the game against Atlanta in Week 17 needing 10 points to break the scoring record in a single season at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Leading Bucs to a 44-27 victory, Succop converted five extra points and three field goals for 14 points to set the mark.
Succop became the first player in the franchise’s history to win two Player of the Week awards in Special Teams in the same season. In Week 8, Succop won the honor after the Bucs’ 24-22 victory over the New York Giants during Monday Night Football. Mr. Irrelevant 2009 hit four field goals and an extra point without losing.
In the regular season, Succop recorded an impressive 90.3 percentage of field goals. In Tampa Bay’s three playoff victories, he was perfect in all eight goal attempts while Bucs led by Brady (14-5) braced for favorite Chiefs (16-2) at Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Cover.
Irrelevant Week is a weeklong celebration in Newport Beach of the underdog, honoring the last player selected in the NFL draft and highlighted by the Lowsman Trophy Banquet. The event raises money for charity and was founded by Paul Salata in 1976.
In 2019, when the NFL draft was held in Nashville, Tennessee, where Succop lived at the time, he joined Irrelevant Week CEO Melanie Fitch on the podium to announce the final choice.
“We are excited that (Succop) is in the Super Bowl,” said Fitch. “We’ve been following him since 2009. He’s a great person and that makes it easier to hope he gets along.”
Richard Dunn, a longtime sports writer, regularly writes the Dunn Deal column for The Orange County Register, The Coastal Current North.