David Corenswet’s next hero doesn’t wear a cape. Mr. Irrelevant tells the true story of John Tuggle, the NFL’s last draft pick whose life became far more remarkable than the nickname ever suggested.
Apparently Superman wasn’t enough pressure. David Corenswet’s next role trades the cape for shoulder pads and the NFL’s least flattering nickname.
Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story is based on a real player, and “Mr. Irrelevant” is a real NFL tradition, not a mean nickname the internet invented. Every year since 1976, whoever gets picked dead last in the draft gets stuck with the title, plus a whole silly celebration built around it called Irrelevant Week. Most of the time, that’s the whole story.
In 1983, John Tuggle was that guy. The New York Giants took him 335th overall, the final pick of the draft’s 12th round.
Tuggle didn’t let it be the whole story.
He Made the Roster. That’s the Hard Part.
Tuggle was drafted the same year Bill Parcells took over as the Giants’ head coach. He earned a spot on special teams, played all 16 games as a rookie, and was eventually promoted to starting fullback after veteran Rob Carpenter got injured. His own teammates voted him the team’s Special Teams Player of the Year.
Not bad for irrelevant.
Then the Trailer Turns
The following offseason, Tuggle was diagnosed with cancer. He kept training with the team through chemotherapy anyway, reportedly insisting on being pushed like everyone else in the weight room. Tuggle never played in the NFL again. He died on August 30, 1986, at 25.
The Giants wore his number, 38, on their helmets all season, including in their Super Bowl XXI win.
Parcells has talked about the last time he saw Tuggle: in a suit, holding a bottle of champagne he’d pulled out of a paper bag, telling him, “I don’t think I’m going to be seeing you.” Then he thanked him and left.
The Cast Is Stacked
Corenswet plays Tuggle. Michael Shannon (Nuremberg) plays Parcells. Isabel May (1883, the upcoming Scream 7) plays Katie, Tuggle’s love interest. David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) rounds out the cast. Jonathan Levine (50/50, Long Shot) directs from a script by Nick Santora (Reacher).
That’s a lot of star power for a movie about the guy nobody expected to matter.
Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story opens in theaters December 25.
I don’t usually want a tearjerker on Christmas Day. I’ll make an exception for this one.
