Hoag receives Lowsman
Richard Dunn
Cast among stars from the world of sports and surrounded by USC
pageantry, the usual pomp of Mr. Irrelevant’s center stage walked to
the beat of a different drum Thursday night at the
Heisman-meets-Lowsman banquet at the Anaheim Marriott.
In the headline event of Irrelevant Week XXVIII, Ryan Hoag, the
former NCAA Division III wide receiver, was presented the annual
Lowsman Trophy from Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata, who served
as master of ceremonies and chief host of the madcap roast and toast
to celebrate the dead-last pick in the NFL draft in front of a record
crowd of more than 1,200.
Hoag, selected No. 262 by the Oakland Raiders, was honored along
with Orange Countian Carson Palmer, the former USC quarterback and
last season’s Heisman Trophy winner. It was the first time in
Irrelevant Week history that the Heisman and Lowsman trophy winners
were featured in the same room.
The banquet was attended by several former USC quarterbacks seated
at the head table and featured the Lowsman Trophy staging with Hoag.
The Lowsman Trophy, created in 1979 specifically to be awarded to
the honoree of the nationally famous Irrelevant Week, is a bronze
sculpture that depicts a football player dropping a ball.
Each year at the banquet, Mr. Irrelevant receives a replica of the
original, which is on display at the University Athletic Club in
Newport Beach. The Heisman Trophy is awarded in December to college
football’s top player. Hoag, a former football and track and field
standout at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., is excited
about the opportunity of cracking the Oakland roster this year and
perhaps working his way into starting role. He also returns kickoffs
and punts.
He said it’s a great situation to be in with future Hall of Famers
Jerry Rice and Tim Brown to help groom him.
“There are no expectations of starting and I’ve got two of the
best wide receivers to learn from,” Hoag said. “I had a good
experience at mini-camp (with the Raiders). I never learned so much
in such a short period of time. It was physically demanding, too.”
Hoag, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, played only one year of high school
football and that was as a JV quarterback. He grew up in Minneapolis,
then spent one year at Wake Forest as a walk-on soccer player. He
returned to his roots and enrolled at Gustavus Adolphus, where he was
an All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performer three
times.
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