Sommersell roasted, boasted, toasted

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.