Q & A WITH PAUL SALATA:

Paul Salata is 81, yet he still knows how to have fun.

Salata sat down with the Daily Pilot and talked about his favorite week of the year.

Irrelevant Week in Newport Beach.

The founder of the event honoring the last player chosen in the NFL Draft is ready to make David Vobora, a linebacker from the University of Idaho, feel like the No. 1 pick and not No. 252.

The party kicks off at 5 p.m. Monday, when Mr. Irrelevant XXXIII will be showered with gifts and have a press conference at the arrival party at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort.

Salata welcomes everyone. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of the St. Louis Rams pick.

“He’ll sign whatever,” Salata said.

Question: Does this event ever get old for you?

Answer: It doesn’t get old. I think it gets old for me because I’m getting old. We’re working on this being No. 33. We’re working on getting a partner somehow that’s national and the league is encouraging that. The NFL Alumni showed some interest. Goodwill Industries have shown some possibilities.

But rather than me having to come up with any shortcomings, and [depend on] the people that come to it, the people that are heavy business hitters say, “How much do you make on this?” We’ve averaged about $30,000 to $40,000 and spread it around in small amounts. They say, “What would you think of $500,000?”

Q: Are you guys ready?

A: It’s a lot of work and we’re not very sophisticated so we work hard at it. We have a bunch of interns working on it, and it’s going very well. We have a board of about 12 people and they give advice. We also work on sales, [arranging] gifts for the kid on the first day.

Q: What kind of gifts will you give Mr. Irrelevant?

A: We [give] a lot of things. The barber [gives] him a haircut.

Q: Any problems getting gifts?

A: Our main problems in putting this on is getting the head tables set for the [celebrities like John Robinson, former USC and Los Angeles Rams coach] and getting the gifts that we’re going to give [Mr. Irrelevant], all the Disneyland and Dodger game [tickets]. On Thursday, the yachting, the regatta at Balboa Yacht Club. Those are things that require detail.

Q: Who answers the phone at Irrelevant Week headquarters? He sounds really grumpy.

A: My brother Tommy. He loves his job. He’s keeping us in line. He’s doing a good job.

Q: Where do the proceeds from this event go?

A: Our main charity is the Goodwill Industries. We want to give them as much as we can. They’re having a drive for their fitness center that makes handicapped people well enough to work and make a living and not be on welfare. We’ve done [things for the] Camp Pendleton Marines. We’ve done things for [Save Our Youth].

Q: What’s Vobora like?

A: We get a report from the Rams that he’s doing well, that he’s a good kid, and everybody is kidding him about this trip, his early fame. [Nick] Holt was his coach as a freshman up in Idaho and Holt is here at USC [as a defensive coordinator and defensive line coach]. So, he’s going to be a guest. [Holt] tells us he’s a real good kid and a good player. We hope that he’ll make it [in the NFL], and there’s a good chance he will.

Q: What was the size of the Rams’ No. 252 jersey?

A: A big one, so you [can] get all the numbers on there.

Q: Who has it?

A: The kid is going to get it. We always give him a USC jersey, too. Just to show [him] if you wear this you can really know how [it] would’ve been [at a] big-time [program].

Q: Will there be any Javon Walker incidents throughout the week?

A: No. Is that the guy in Las Vegas?

Q: Any Mr. Irrelevant favorites?

A: No, they’ve all been good. They all sort of, when they get done, they say, “I bet you the first pick isn’t doing as well as I’m doing this week.” They get T-shirts, hats, watches, golf bags, everything. His whole family is involved. We get, “Grandma really likes that jacket.” A couple of them have been slower than others. We used to go to Hollywood Park and name a race after him. [One] guy was a Dallas Cowboy, and the horse that wins was Cowboys Dream or something. He’s like, “You guys are really influential. You rig a race for me?”

Q: Least favorites?

A: There was one guy, whose name I won’t use. The guy took advantage of us. He started signing for things in the gift shop in the hotel. Stuff had nothing to do [with the week], buying clothes and different things.

One guy brought his fiancee, a really nice guy. She wanted to be the honoree. She was competing with him. And it was so obvious and pathetic. When they got back, he dismissed her. A couple of years later, he got married to somebody else.

Q: Are all the teams cooperative?

A: None of them [have] been [really] bad. New England didn’t cooperate at all [in 2005 with Andy Stokes]. Belichick takes charge and says at a publicity press conference, “It’s just a bunch of hype.” And he’s hyping. He’s at a hype session. The reporters were saying, “Boy, isn’t that great the guy gets to go to Newport Beach?”

Q: Did Stokes make it to Newport Beach?

A: He was here [for an Irrelevant Week cut in half]. But we had to alter a couple of things [because of Belichick], and then we had to fly him back and forth from Boston. Belichick said that there was a practice [one day] and there wasn’t. He got back there and there was no practice. He came right back [to Newport Beach].

Q: So, are you pretty happy the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants?

A: Oh, sure!

Q: Last year Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca showed up. Any chance former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona will attend?

A: If we can get him out, get him a day pass.

Q: What role does your daughter Melanie Salata-Fitch play?

A: She’s in charge, but she can’t do it alone. She can’t pick up the phone and call some of the people that I can.

Q: Times are hard, huh?

A: Yeah, the [newspaper] business.

We’re still going to have 300 or 400 at the banquet. But some of the people are having slow years, so they’ve merged with other people.

Q: Does our paper have a table, or are we sitting outside?

A: Outside in the parking lot.

Q: Has the last pick in the draft been present when you’ve announced his name?

A: We had an agent who brought Jim Finn to the [1999] draft. I had read off the last guy and everything was over with. I’m about to close the doors. [The agent] says, “Hey! He’s here.” So I brought him up to the [microphone] and did 10 minutes with him. I said, “Where did you go to school?” He said, “Penn.” I said, “There’s no football at Penn.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.