Ready for an irrelevant read?

Jennifer K Mahal

When Chesty Hake became Mr. Irrelevant, chosen last in the NFL draft

by the Kansas City Cobras, his life changed forever. Murder and mayhem

would follow.

Chesty who? The Kansas City what?

Don’t worry. You didn’t miss anything. Hake and the Cobras expansion

team are the fictional creations of author Jerry Marshall, a former

sportswriter for the St. Louis Globe Democrat whose murder mystery, “Mr.

Irrelevant,” was released recently.

Mr. Irrelevant and Irrelevant Week, a 25-year Newport Beach tradition

celebrating the last man picked in the draft, is the creation of Linda

Isle resident Paul Salata.

“When [Marshall] called, I assumed he wanted to write about”

Irrelevant Week, Salata said. “Then it ends up being a murder mystery. I

didn’t care.”

The October release from Durban House Publishing tells the story of

Hake, his eight-season career with the Cobras and his friendship with a

sportswriter named Paul Tenkiller. Thrown into the mix are gambling,

murder and a silenced gun.

“The team chooses him to play because they will get all of this

coverage because he’s Mr. Irrelevant, which makes us seem kind of

special,” said Melanie Salata-Fitch, chief executive of Irrelevant Week.

“I don’t think [Marshall will] win a Pulitzer or a Nobel or any literary

prize, but I’ll keep buying the book and giving it out because it’s

neat.”

Salata, 74, is honored in the introduction to “Mr. Irrelevant” for his

work in bringing recognition to football’s underdog since 1976.

“Paul, from Newport Beach, had played a little pro football and had

made a goodly amount of money after realizing he wasn’t the greatest

pass-catcher to precede Crazy Legs Hirsch,” the introduction reads. “Paul

. . . kept thinking the premium players got all the attention while the

marginal players -- the Corvairs on a Corvette highway -- got a lot of

nothing.”

Though the basic facts in the introduction -- the only part Salata has

read -- are accurate, he calls the writing”a little tongue in cheek.”

“That’s a locker-room synopsis,” he said. “I was good enough. I played

five years and did above average.”

At USC, Salata caught a touchdown pass from Jim Hardy in the 1945 Rose

Bowl, a 25-0 win over Tennessee. Professionally, he played end for the

49ers, Colts and Steelers. The now-retired entrepreneur also played for

the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL.

Salata-Fitch said the introduction honoring her father was “awesome.”

“It was very special and heartwarming to me,” she said.

She plans to track Marshall down at the Super Bowl and talk with him

about the book. Salata-Fitch said she’s even considering wrapping the

dust jacket around other books she’s reading when she goes out, just to

get it a little more recognition.

Of the area’s major book chains -- Crown, Barnes & Noble and Borders

Books & Music -- only the Newport Center Barnes & Noble has had the book

in stock.

Assistant Manager Michael O’Brien said the store’s initial two-book

order sold out, but the store is expecting to get two more copies in.

FYI

So why ‘Irrelevant’?

Paul Salata said the name of Irrelevant Week was inspired by the

flower children of the 1960s. The key word in Haight-Ashbury and

Berkeley, he said, was relevance -- work wasn’t considered relevant and

neither was school.

“If what they were doing was relevant, then the rest of us were

irrelevant,” Salata said.

The phrase “Mr. Irrelevant” was coined by Rick Smith, media director

of the St. Louis Rams (formerly the Los Angeles Rams) after the first

celebration, Salata said.

The 26th annual Irrelevant Week will take place in June.