IRRELEVANT WEEK XXXIV:

Irrelevant Week, the weeklong party in its 34th year, celebrates the underdog, the last pick of the NFL Draft. Yet also much of the hoopla includes a great deal of playfully roasting Mr. Irrelevant.

The jokes will come easy this year and it’s not because the Kansas City Chiefs used their final pick, No. 256 of the draft, to take a kicker from the University of South Carolina, home of the Gamecocks.

The comedy is actually in the kicker’s name.

He’s Ryan Succop, pronounced, “Suck-up.”

“Believe me, I’ve heard them all,” he said of the jokes he’s gotten about his last name. “Some of them I can’t really repeat for this article. Let’s just say I’ve heard some interesting ones.”

But get one thing straight: This Succop is no suck-up.

“I certainly respect my coaches, but not like that,” he said in a North Carolina twang.

Succop doesn’t plan to use flattery to try to become the coach’s favorite with the Chiefs. He’ll instead use his leg, as he battles for a roster spot against Connor Barth, who, like Succop, grew up in North Carolina.

Succop, the third kicker taken in the draft, went to Hickory High School, in Hickory. That’s where he found his niche. A soccer player, he was told by many that he should take his strong boot to the football team. From there, it all fell into place, eventually making his way to the Gamecocks.

At South Carolina, he handled punting, kickoff and placekicking duties in his sophomore and junior years.

During his senior season, he was solely the kicker, as he dealt with an injury, a sports hernia. But the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Succop continued to kick. He connected on 20 of his 30 field-goal tries, missing four from 50 yards or beyond, with his longest at 54 yards.

Of his 61 kickoffs, 25 were touchbacks. He made all 30 of his extra-point attempts and was the Gamecocks’ highest scorer.

He is the No. 2 all-time scorer in South Carolina history with 215 career points.

“I think he’s a guy that’s not your typical kicker,” said Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks’ special teams coach and son of longtime Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer. “I’ve spent a lot of time with those guys, and they’re stereotyped a certain way. He’s a lot different. He’s a strong guy. He loves to lift weights and loves to be in the weight room, which is rare for kickers. He has a lot to offer because he can do all three, punt, kick and kick off. He’ll be successful I think.”

He’s also expected to be well-liked when he arrives in Newport Beach in June for the weeklong celebration, created by Paul Salata. The South Carolina fans showed a strong love for the kicker, Shane Beamer said, especially the female ones.

“He went out of his way to help people,” Beamer said. “He was a role model who represented the program well. He’s very easy-going and very respectful. I couldn’t be happier for him because of the type of guy he is.”

Now Beamer and the Gamecocks will try to find Succop’s replacement, a job that is tough, especially considering the players up for it are usually walk-ons. Succop’s gone and on to try to make it in the NFL.

He might have something going for him, being picked by the Chiefs and GM Scott Pioli. When Pioli was with the Patriots, they had some big-time legs in Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski

“It’s an incredible opportunity,” Succop said. “I feel really blessed. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to start training and start practicing. It’s something I’ve worked for for a long time. It’s an amazing blessing.”

Succop said he was in Columbia, S.C., watching the NFL Draft Sunday, when he received a call from the Chiefs just a few minutes before he was announced as Mr. Irrelevant XXXIV.

He becomes the first kicker to be Mr. Irrelevant since 1993 when Daron Alcorn was taken by Tampa Bay.

Succop hopes to be like last year’s Mr. Irrelevant and make the team. David Vobora, last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, went on to play in eight games, including a start on Nov. 30 against Miami.

But like Vobora, Succop is going to a struggling franchise. The kicker’s headed to a team that went 2-14, and fired its coach, Herm Edwards, and hired Todd Haley. But Succop is looking to make the most of it as he battles against a fellow statesman.

“I’m not focusing on that too much,” he said of going up against Barth. “I’m not focusing on anyone else except for me.”

During Irrelevant Week, it will be all about Succop.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.