Labels are a funny thing. Some people don’t like them. To some, a label can make all the difference in the world.
For example: “NFL draft pick’’ has a much better ring to it than “undrafted free agent.’’
For Dequartavous “Tae’’ Crowder, the linebacker out of Georgia whom the Giants chose with the 255th and final pick in the 2020 draft on Saturday, the difference between those two labels is life-changing.
“It means a lot to me and my family and my community,’’ Crowder said on a Zoom call Wednesday. “I’m from a small town [Hamilton, Ga.]. Many people don’t make it from here. It brought the city out. They have my name hanging up in different places and stuff like that. It was a blessing and a dream come true for me.’’
With that blessing came another label that will be attached to Crowder for the rest of his life: “Mr. Irrelevant.’’
Since 1976, thanks to a former USC receiver named Paul Salata, who was selected in the 10th round of the 1949 draft by the 49ers (110th overall), that’s what the last pick in the draft has been affectionately labeled. Salata, in ’76, created the “Mr. Irrelevant’’ label and turned it into an annual celebration.
With it comes some perks, beginning with the notoriety, and it includes a week-long paid vacation to Southern California as well as being celebrated at an annual banquet where he’s awarded the coveted “Lowsman Trophy.’’
Had Crowder been drafted 254th by the Broncos, who took edge-rusher Derrek Tuszek from North Dakota State with the penultimate pick, Crowder would have been just another anonymous seventh-round draft choice that no one has ever heard of. Or had the Giants opted for someone else at No. 255, Crowder would have been just another undrafted free agent among a large pool of faceless players trying to catch on with a team and make the roster.
“When you get to camp, though, it really doesn’t matter that you were Mr. Irrelevant,’’ former Giants fullback Jim Finn told The Post on Wednesday. “Once you show you belong on the field, you’ll quickly earn the respect of your teammates, and all that draft stuff goes out the window.’’
Finn knows a little something about this. He was the 1999 Mr. Irrelevant, picked last by the Bears. He played with the Giants from 2003-07, winning a Super Bowl ring with them as a celebrated local from Fair Lawn, N.J., just a few miles up Route 17 from the Meadowlands.
Like Finn, who said he’d never heard of the “Mr. Irrelevant’’ label when he was picked, this was all new to Crowder, who’d never heard of it until he began fielding calls once he was drafted.
Tae CrowderAP“Obviously, I can now that I read up on it,’’ Crowder said. “But it’s pretty special for me and my family. We’ll have fun with it.’’
That’s exactly what Finn did with it. He had fun with it. And he also used it to fuel him.
Finn fondly recalled his Mr. Irrelevant week, being feted and given a Rolex watch he still wears. Asked where his Lowsman Trophy is, Finn laughed and said, “It’s at my parents’ house in Fair Lawn. I don’t even remember what it looks like. I think the player is reaching down for a dropped ball instead of like the Heisman Trophy pose.’’
Crowder was the 32nd linebacker chosen in the 2020 draft, and the fourth picked by the Giants. He sounded on the call like a humble player willing to do whatever he can to help the team.
Finn, based on his experience, sounded like he knows what’s coursing through Crowder’s veins, though.
“I feel you have to have something that drives you, and doubters are the best way to fuel someone,’’ Finn said. “I thrived off of that.” I knew all the fullbacks that were taken before me and I watched their careers closely and I wanted to be one of the last ones standing, which I think I may have been.
“For life, you can say you were drafted in the NFL. As time goes on, in [Crowder’s] small town they’ll always take pride in it. It’ll be something that he looks back fondly on.’
Of the past 10 Mr. Irrelevant draftees, only Redskins receiver Trey Quinn, picked in 2018, is still producing in the NFL, albeit it with modest numbers. You have to go back to 2009 Mr. Irrelevant, kicker Ryan Succop, who’s played in 166 games, to find someone who’s truly been relevant.
Maybe Crowder becomes the next one to make a difference.
Crowder on Wednesday sounded humbled and proud of the banners Hamilton, Ga., hung to honor his accomplishment. At his school, one reads: “Congrats Tae Crowder, NFL Draft 2020.’’
What if he’d been taken 254th by the Broncos or the Giants opted for someone else at 255? What would have happened in tiny Hamilton, Ga. then?
“We’ll never know,’’ Crowder said. “I just thank God that [the Giants] pulled the trigger and drafted me.”
