It’s pretty tough for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to not make history every time he steps on the field. Mr. Irrelevant doesn’t typically have an outsized impact in the NFL, and that’s even more true when Mr. Irrelevant is a quarterback. That’s why a note tweeted by NFL Media’s Andrew Siciliano is a little bit funny.
When rookie Purdy took the field for the 49ers in the final seconds of a blowout win over the Panthers in Week 6 last season, he became the second Mr. Irrelevant QB to ever appear in a game. The other was Broncos QB Chad Kelly whose only snap as a pro was a kneel down to end the first half of a 2018 Week 6 loss to the Rams.
That meant Purdy’s first pass as a pro (a 20-yard completion to Ray-Ray McCloud) in a blowout loss to the Chiefs was the first pass ever thrown by Mr. Irrelevant. The ball of firsts kept rolling in Week 13 when he took over as the starter for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. There was the first TD pass by a QB selected with the final pick. The first win. The first road win. The first playoff start. The list is longer than a Kyle Shanahan play sheet.
Even as he enters his second season, the firsts keep coming. Siciliano dropped this one on Twitter ahead of the 49ers’ visit to Los Angeles to face Matthew Stafford and the Rams:
Sunday's @49ers – @RamsNFL game will mark the first time we've ever seen a QB taken #1 overall in the @NFL Draft face a QB selected with the last overall pick.
via @NFLResearch
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) September 13, 2023
That’s an objectively fun fact!
The problem is it works with *rifles through notes* virtually every quarterback Purdy has faced since Mr. Irrelevant had never started a game at QB prior to him.
He was the first QB selected with the last overall pick to start against a QB picked: 199th (Tom Brady), 39th (Geno Smith), 133rd (Jarrett Stidham), 135th (Dak Prescott), 53rd (Jalen Hurts) and 20th (Kenny Pickett).
The fun fact also spreads to undrafted QBs, where Purdy became the first QB picked last to start against an undrafted rookie when he faced Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke in Week 16 last season.
Sunday Purdy will start against former No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford. That’ll be yet another first, but it won’t be the last of them since by this definition Purdy makes history every time he gets under center for the 49ers.
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