Sommersell roasted, boasted, toasted
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Rick Devereux
There are some serious moments during the Mr. Irrelevant Week events.
But the somber mood comes and goes so fast, it is easily missed by
those in attendance.
The annual All-Star Irrelevant Week Lowsman Banquet at the Newport
Marriott Wednesday night provided quick glimpses of sincere
congratulatory statements and well-wishes, and then resumed into the
part stand-up comedy routine, part roast for which the festivities
are known.
Andre Sommersell, the 255th pick by the Oakland Raiders and this
year’s Mr. Irrelevant for being the last selection in the NFL draft,
was given the Lowsman Trophy, the opposite of the Heisman, along with
some good-natured ribbing by presenter and Mr. Irrelevant founder
Paul Salata.
When a highlight reel of Sommersell’s career ended abruptly,
Salata said, “Well, I guess you were only there for four years.”
George Berg, Sommersell’s coach at Fountain Valley High, gave a
quick history of how the coaching staff decided on putting Sommersell
at defensive end.
“We made him a receiver because he was so fast,” Berg said. “But
the thing about a receiver is that you have to receive. So that
ended. Then we stuck him at defensive end because we figured that he
would run around long enough until he ran into someone and made a
tackle.”
Before transferring to Fountain Valley his junior year, Sommersell
played basketball at Estancia. Tim Parsel, the boys athletic director
for the Eagles, was the A.D. when Sommersell was playing basketball
as a freshman and sophomore.
“I remember he was a demon on the boards,” Parsel said. “He had
real good promise and when he left it struck a blow to Estancia
athletics. You could tell he was athletic and would go places.”
Newport Beach resident and sports agent icon Leigh Steinberg acted
as an honorary agent for Mr. Irrelevant for the 20th year and once
again orchestrated a contract worth exactly the paper it was written
on, but he did leave with words of encouragement.
“The last defensive end on Oakland I represented was Howie Long,”
Steinberg said. “He went to the Hall of Fame and I’m sure you’re
going to have just as bright a future.”
Before the ceremonies, Sommersell said he was happy with the
festivities.
“This is great. I really like it,” he said. “I don’t really like
the limelight and interviews, but I’m getting used to it. Older guys
on the team tell me to wait until the season starts with all the
cameras.”
Sommersell had to leave Monday night in order to attend mandatory
mini-camp on Tuesday and Wednesday before flying back at 3:30 p.m. on
Wednesday. He became the first Mr. Irrelevant to miss a day of
activities.
The schedule on Tuesday called for Sommersell to be a VIP guest at
Disneyland during the day and then be an honorary member of the
grounds crew at the Angels game that night.
But Sommersell had two practices on Tuesday with the Raiders in
shorts and a helmet and another on Wednesday. He was allowed to leave
after the Wednesday morning practice in order to make the banquet,
but that meant he missed a Wednesday afternoon session in Oakland
with new coach Norv Turner.
Sommersell’s schedule was so busy that he arrived in his practice
uniform at John Wayne Airport and was hurried to the hotel to change
into his custom fitted charcoal-gray suit made this week.
The suit was just one of many gifts bestowed on Sommersell. Many
were gag gifts, like the, “ ‘Roid kit,” given by Werner and Eric
Escher. Instead of a steroid kit, the Eschers gave him a hemorrhoid
kit thinking Sommersell would be mostly sitting on the bench as a
rookie.
Sommersell will be sitting on a boat in the Beer Can Regatta today
hosted by the Balboa Bay Yacht Club.
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