Ryan Succop's draft journey to the 256th-overall selection, and Mr. Irrelevant status at the 2009 NFL draft, certainly won't rank up there with Babe Ruth's famous called home run or Joe Namath's Super Bowl guarantee, but it's interesting nonetheless. The former South Carolina kicker hoped to hear his name called on the draft's second day, preferably by a team that might give him a shot to win its starting job. So when Succop glanced through the selection order for rounds three through seven, and compared that to the list of teams he had worked out with, he found one spot that made sense.
It just so happened to be the final spot in the draft.
When the second day of the NFL draft started Sunday, Ryan Succop told friends he thought the Kansas City Chiefs might take him with the final pick of the draft."With the 256th, and final pick, in the 2009 NFL draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select Nostradamus."
OK, OK, we'll lay off the kid -- after all, he'll get all the teasing he can handle during Irrelevant Week, a relatively unnecessary week-long celebration held annually for the final player selected in the draft.
And all kidding aside, Succop has what a lot of other players taken in the seventh round don't: a legit chance to make an NFL roster. Kansas City handed its kicking duties over to then-rookie Connor Barth midway through the 2008 season, and despite hitting on 10-of-12 field goals, Barth is not exactly entrenched as the starter.
Succop hit on 20-of-30 field goals for South Carolina in 2008, the 66.7-percent clip the lowest in his career. It's also easily explainable, as he played the final two months of the season with a sports hernia injury. "Kicking is what bothers it most," Succop said of the ailment at the time, seemingly a major issue for a kicker.
Now healthy, he'll at least get an opportunity to unseat Barth on the Chiefs' roster -- no word yet on whether or not Succop's predicting the outcome of that situation.
