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Each goes by the name Mr. Irrelevant, but no two are alike.

So when Irrelevant Week is held annually in Newport Beach, Calif., to honor the last player taken in the NFL draft, many of the activities are tailored to fit the guest of honor.

While all participate in the Arrival Party and Lowsman Banquet -- where each receives the opposite-of-the-Heisman Lowsman Trophy (depicting a player in mid-fumble) -- players can decide what else they want to do.

One asked to go clubbing in Los Angeles with Paris Hilton. Another chose to spend time with his family and sleep extra hours in his soft hotel bed. Others, who’d never been to California, wanted to go Jet Skiing or sailing, play golf on a course overlooking the Pacific or meet their sports heroes.

In 2008, David Vobora, a linebacker from Idaho chosen by the Rams, wanted to see the Playboy Mansion and meet the women from “The Girls Next Door” reality TV series. After an evening that included dinner with Hugh Hefner, hanging with “The Girls,” getting a tour of the mansion and sharing Hef’s movie night, Vobora told one reporter it was “a slice of heaven.”

And that’s pretty much been the goal of Irrelevant Week since it began in 1976: to treat the last as if he were first.

Each April, when Mr. Irrelevant is drafted in New York, Irrelevant Week CEO Melanie Salata Fitch is right there to get his requests for Irrelevant Week (usually is held in June).

“I say, ‘Hey, congratulations’ and 'What do you like?' and 'What do you eat?' and 'What have you always dreamed about?' and I start designing events,” she says.

After 37 Irrelevant Weeks, she’s confident the players have had a great time. How could they not? Her mission is to treat each “like a king.”

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“Problem player."

That's how Ray Edwards was branded after being released less than two years into his five-year, $30 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons in November. With the "locker-room cancer" label attached, Edwards knew it wouldn’t be easy to find more work in the NFL, even though his belief in his talents never faltered. So he turned to the only other thing he knew -- boxing.

“I’m 100 percent into boxing,” Edwards told ESPN Playbook. “Nobody’s called me; nobody’s called my agent. I’m moving on with my life because the NFL doesn’t stop for me. They will keep going.”

The Purdue product and former Minnesota Viking gave pro boxing a try during the NFL lockout in May 2011 with a decision victory over Tyrone Gibson and fought twice in 2013, with wins over Cory Briggs and Nick Capes.

It was the latter bout that garnered Edwards attention, though certainly not the kind he was looking for. The fight was suspicious, with Capes dropping like a sack of bricks from a punch that seemingly missed just 13 seconds into the bout. North Dakota fight commissioner Al Jaeger concluded it was a dive and suspended Capes, whose real name is Greg Scott.

The 6-foot-5, 258-pound Edwards swears he had no knowledge of the arrangement and “respects the game of boxing too much to do that.” With the incident behind him, Edwards (3-0, 2 KOs) continues his boxing career with a heavyweight bout Friday against journeyman Van Goodman in Hinckley, Minn.

“I want to be heavyweight champion,” said Edwards, who recorded 8.5 sacks in 2009, his best season. “Anything less than that, I failed myself, my trainers and all those who believed in me. I know it’s kind of early to say this, but I know how to think the game.”

Edwards isn’t the first accomplished athlete to give the Sweet Science a whirl. The following pro athletes have tried to cross over into boxing over the years, albeit with little success:

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With NFL free agency under way for more than 24 hours and big names on the move via signings and trades, it’s time to determine which teams are the winners and losers. There is no in between. Sorry. This is a pass/fail course.

Winners

Joe Flacco

He won a Super Bowl and signed the richest contract in NFL history, yet still many doubters remain. Fine. Let’s see the haters hate if he manages to win some games with a roster composed primarily of members of the Ravens marching band.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Ravens are in full Florida Marlins mode, the Steelers have lost talent and the Browns are paying a fortune to put free agent lipstick on their Brandon Weeden. Everything is aligning for the Bengals in the AFC North. This might be the year they lose in the first round of the playoffs, but at home instead of on the road. Progress.

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What makes a great playoff game?

Sometimes, it’s a flurry of points. Or it could be a great comeback, a big mistake, a clutch performance, strange weather (or a stranger call) or a play no one has ever seen before. And, in the most remarkable games, all those elements make an appearance.

There are memorable playoff games every season, but here we offer a top 10 of the best of the best in the NFL -- Super Bowls excluded -- since 2000:

10. Jan. 20, 2008: Giants 23, Packers 20 (OT)
The wind-chill reading was as low as minus-24 for this NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field that was won when the Giants’ Lawrence Tynes -- making up for two fourth-quarter misses -- kicked a 47-yard field goal with just more than two minutes played in overtime to send New York to the Super Bowl. Tynes had missed a 43-yarder with 6:49 left in the game and a 36-yarder at the end of regulation (set up by a bad snap). “I screwed it up twice,” Tynes said. “Thank God we got another opportunity.”

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Earlier today, we posted a blank cartoon, and readers offered their captions. Our favorite was by commenter RickG033. Check your ESPN.com profile message center for an email.

Thanks for participating. Check back Tuesday for another cartoon.

Take a shot at writing a cartoon caption. Playbook cartoonist Kurt Snibbe will offer up a blank cartoon each weekday morning, and he will fill in the blank with our favorite reader submission at the end of the business day.

So please, by all means, share your humorous stylings in the comments section.

Earlier this week, an Andrew Luck sketch of the Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium sold for $1,500 on eBay. With a degree in architectural design, Playbook knew there had to be more to the famous artist's portfolio than just one rendering.

Luckily, our dubious network of sources was able to get its hands on more of his stadium artwork. Obviously, the results are impressive.

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[Editor's note: Playbook is tapping its friends at Stadium Journey to share their wealth of information about sports venues across the country and around the world. So as Andrew Luck prepares for Sunday's preseason debut with the Colts, we rank the athletic facilities of Indianapolis.]


Indianapolis is filled with great sports venues. From the old classics like Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse to new beauties like Lucas Oil Stadium, sports fans are sure to have a good time in Indianapolis. Here is our ranking of the stadiums and arenas of Indianapolis, perhaps the best sports downtown area in the country.

1. Lucas Oil Stadium - Home of the Indianapolis Colts

Named as the best sports stadium in 2011 by Stadium Journey Magazine, Lucas Oil Stadium has everything that a fan of the NFL would want. It will be curious to see how the experience changes with a new QB at the helm in Andrew Luck.



2. Hinkle Fieldhouse - Home of the Butler Bulldogs

Movie magic aside, this venue provides historical significance, and modern day excitement. It is without question, an absolutely great place to see a game. The student section is small, sandwiching the court on both baselines, but the energy is pervasive. This aided by a solid pep band, and a ridiculously large cheerleading and dance squad.

• Click here to read the entire story at Stadium Journey

Stadium Journey is dedicated to providing fans with everything they need to know to make the most of their next live sports experience. With more than 1,000 venues reviewed, Stadium Journey has recommendations on what to do, see, and eat, as well as what to avoid.

Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil paid for a full-page ad in the Charlotte Observer, an audacious letter to fans guaranteeing that his team would win the Super Bowl this season.

Though some are writing it off as foolish, the letter is nonetheless inspiring, and other players around the league have apparently followed his example and taken out newspaper ads of their own making similarly brazen promises.

Playbook's dubious network of sources collected some of the more inspiring letters. Take a look:

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Editor's note: ESPN Playbook subjected 10 rising pro football stars to offbeat interviews at the recent NFLPA Rookie Premiere event in Los Angeles. Here's what transpired:

First and 10: ESPN Playbook NFL rookie interviews
Monday, May 28: Rueben Randle, Giants | Tuesday, May 29: Michael Floyd, Cardinals Wednesday, May 30: Doug Martin, Bucs | Thursday, May 31: Brandon Weeden, Browns Friday, June 1: Justin Blackmon, Jaguars | Monday, June 4: Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins Tuesday, June 5: Coby Fleener, Colts | Wednesday, June 6: Isaiah Pead, Rams Thursday, June 7: DeVier Posey, Texans | Friday, June 8: Russell Wilson, Seahawks
Also see: Playbook feature: Robert Griffin III | Playbook feature: Brandon Weeden

COBY FLEENER

Position: Tight end        College: Stanford

Team: Indianapolis Colts        2012 NFL draft: Second round (No. 34 overall)


ESPN Playbook: What has been your "Welcome to the NFL" moment?

Fleener: It’s gotta be putting on the hat for the first time and realizing what team had selected you.

What are you going to miss the most about college?

As I get more and more into the NFL, I’ll realize how it’s a business. I don’t see it so much yet as people tell me about it. I think I’ll miss the friendships I made in college.

What are you looking forward to most about your new city?

The people. The fans have been great so far, and I really like the midwestern attitude that people bring to Indianapolis.

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Take a shot at writing a cartoon caption. Playbook cartoonist Kurt Snibbe will offer up a blank cartoon each weekday morning, and he will fill in the blank with our favorite reader submission at the end of the business day.

So please, by all means, share your humorous stylings in the comments section.

Sure, Andrew Luck is poised to draw a bigger paycheck and a better spot on the Indianapolis Colts’ depth chart than the newly minted Mr. Irrelevant, Chandler Harnish.

But even though Luck was selected No. 1 overall out of Stanford in this year's NFL draft, and Harnish, out of Northern Illinois, was identified with the 253rd and final pick, Harnish has something Luck doesn’t – an iPhone.

Luck still uses a flip phone to handle the many calls and text messages he receives every day, something Harnish says he’s determined to change.

“I think I'm definitely gonna push for him to get an iPhone,” Harnish said with a laugh. “I think it'll definitely help him to get more organized and up-to-date for sure."

Just like Luck, Harnish played quarterback in college and wore No 12.

When Luck took the stage Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall, he was handed a Colts jersey with his name and Harnish’s number on the back. On Saturday, when Harnish’s pick was announced, a Colts jersey bearing No. 253 was held aloft by the founder of Irrelevant Week, former NFL player Paul Salata.

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