Succop’s final wipeout

NEWPORT BEACH — Ryan Succop had the beach all to himself. The clouds kept the beachgoers away Thursday morning.

Succop tried to clear the clouds away with his right foot.

With only a handful of people around, Succop had time to do what he does best — kick. He kicked a football, not the sand. Weird but true.

Most toss around a football at the beach. Not boot one high enough to reach the sun.

You’re supposed to kick back at the beach, not kick a football. When you’re the dead-last pick in the NFL Draft, you try to impress anyone.

Succop played with his favorite toy, the one he’s trying to use to earn a living with the Kansas City Chiefs. If football doesn’t pan out, Succop added two new toys to his collection — a surfboard and wetsuit.

Without the wetsuit, Succop wasn’t about to walk into the chilly Pacific Ocean and paddle out for some waves.

Succop is Mr. Irrelevant XXXIV, but the 22-year-old is not crazy.

“Is there a wetsuit?” Succop asked.

Nearby, Melanie Salata-Fitch, the person chaperoning the 256th pick from the University of South Carolina for the last day, quipped, “He won’t last long” without one.

Rather than risk the cold waters, Succop waited for someone to hand him a wetsuit.

Before Succop surfed for the first time, he needed lessons. Surfing is dangerous, unlike what Succop is accustomed to in his sport.

The kicker, most of the time, is on the sideline during a football game. A player is more likely to crash into Succop on the sideline than on the field.

Succop learned there’s contact in surfing, too. He experienced many wipeouts Thursday. The water is more forgiving.

For safety reasons, the professional instructor kept Succop away from rocks and real surfers. The instructor taught Succop the best way possible.

Remember, he dealt with a kicker.

That was evident when Succop practiced his slick moves on the sand. The basics looked relatively easy, paddling out with his arms and then popping up on the board.

The stance is what Succop struggled with and his board was stuck in the sand, nowhere near the water. Succop bent his knees, held his arms in front for balance, a stance more suited for a middle linebacker before a snap.

For Succop, it was time to tackle the ocean and its one-foot waves.

Two minutes on the sand was enough training. Succop was eager. Paige Cooper, his girlfriend, worried about his safety and sharks.

“Don’t say that,” Cooper said when someone mentioned he saw sharks the other day at the beach.

“He’ll be OK, right?”

Cooper had no reason to fret.

A couple of handicapped men surfed, showing no fear. Succop joined them in the water.

Succop might have wanted to wait until they left because they performed a lot better.

At first, Succop looked like he rode a mechanical bull and not a surfboard. Each time he fell, he got right back up, waiting for another wave.

They came and Succop hung on for five seconds at most, not long enough to attempt an aerial maneuver. He had a hard time holding his board.

“He carries his board backward,” Salata-Fitch said before Succop gave up surfing for volleyball.

Succop didn’t fare any better out of the water.

In a sport featuring the kill, Succop and his designated guest, Trey Crabill, got killed in a volleyball match.

Two players from the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team dominated Succop and Crabill. Outside hitter McCall Miller and setter Taryn Robertson decided to hit left-handed, taking it easy on the guys.

They continued to win.

Their strategy worked. Succop was more than OK with it because Thursday was the final day of Irrelevant Week and Miller and Robertson executed their plan beautifully.

“It was a distraction,” Miller said of her and Robertson deciding midway through the match to take off their normal workout clothes and wear their bikinis instead. “They don’t see much of that in South Carolina.”