Kelvin Kirk (December 31, 1953 – July 2, 2003) was an American football wide receiver and kick returner who played for seven seasons in the Canadian Football League. Kirk was also the first Mr. Irrelevant (a humorous award given to the last player picked in the NFL Draft), as the 487th and last draft pick in the

1976 NFL Draft The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks m ...

(On the note of the 1976 NFL draft, this was the draft that had the most players ever drafted and he was the last one selected making him the most irrelevant Draft pick of all time).

Early years

Born in Mount Pleasant, Florida, Kirk's family relocated to Dayton, Ohio and he starred at Dunbar High School. Kirk then stayed in town to play his college ball at the University of Dayton, where he led the nation with 24.5 yards per reception in 1975.

"Mr. Irrelevant"

Kirk was drafted by the defending

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

champion

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the seventeenth and final round of the

, making him the first Mr. Irrelevant of the NFL Draft, an "honor" afforded the last player picked in the draft. (Kirk was the very last of 487 selections, the most ever in an NFL draft.)

Career

After being cut by the Steelers, Kirk headed north to play in the Canadian Football League; he wound up spending seven seasons (1977–83) in the CFL, playing with the Toronto Argonauts, Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders and

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

. He compiled over 6,500 yards in Canada as a wide receiver (153 catches for 2,942 yards and 16 touchdowns), punt returner (1,678 yards and 2 TD) and kickoff returner (1,922 yards and a touchdown). Following his career in the CFL, Kirk worked as an artist for the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' before his sudden death by heart attack while playing a pick-up game of basketball in 2003. Kirk was 49.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Kelvin 1953 births 2003 deaths Players of American football from Florida Players of Canadian football from Florida Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio Players of Canadian football from Dayton, Ohio American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football Dayton Flyers football players Toronto Argonauts players Calgary Stampeders players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Ottawa Rough Riders players Ottawa Citizen people People from Gadsden County, Florida 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people