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Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for Mr. Irrelevant on September 13, starring David Corenswet as John Tuggle, the last player taken in the 1983 NFL Draft.
The trailer dropped on the first NFL Sunday of the season, and the New York Giants co-posted it on the team’s official YouTube channel.
Mr. Irrelevant opens only in theaters on December 25.
The Real John Tuggle
“Mr. Irrelevant” is the nickname the NFL gives the last player picked in the draft every year. Brock Purdy made it famous again when he went from last pick to starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers.
Tuggle got the title in 1983, when the Giants took him with pick No. 335. The fullback out of Cal had led the Bears in rushing three straight seasons.
He beat the odds and made the team, playing all 16 games as a rookie and winning the Giants’ Special Teams Player of the Year award — all in Bill Parcells’ first season as head coach.
Shannon plays Parcells in the film. 1883’s Isabel May plays Tuggle’s love interest.
The official synopsis reads:
Mr. Irrelevant is the inspiring true story of John Tuggle (David Corenswet), the last player selected in the last round of the 1983 NFL draft by the New York Giants. A true underdog, Tuggle defied expectations on the field and off for his then first-year head coach, Bill Parcells (Michael Shannon), his newfound love (Isabel May), and his team, proving that remarkable hope and perseverance can transcend even the greatest challenges.
The true story turns tragic. Tuggle was diagnosed in 1984 with angiosarcoma, a rare cancer that starts in the blood vessels, and never played again. He died on August 30, 1986, at just 25 years old.
The Giants paid his medical costs for the rest of his life and wore his No. 38 on their helmets that season on the way to winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Back in June, THR reported the film tested through the roof, with women over 35 giving it a near-perfect score.
Superman, Coached By General Zod
DC fans know the hook: Corenswet is the DCU’s Superman, and Shannon played General Zod in 2013’s Man of Steel and again in The Flash.
The YouTube comments ran with it.
“Never thought I’d see Superman being coach by General Zod,” reads one comment with 3,300 likes.
“Zod: I WILL TRAIN HIM!!!” says another.
More include “New Superman with Previous General Zod” and “David Corenswet rising as the new Superman and now John Tuggle a football legend.”
Fans also zeroed in on Corenswet’s 1980s look: “That mustache deserves an Oscar.”
The last time a Superman actor’s mustache made headlines was Henry Cavill and the Justice League reshoots. This time, the mustache gets to stay.
The trailer passed 1.3 million views in its first day, with 13,000 likes and only 320 dislikes.
Jonathan Levine directs from a script by Reacher creator Nick Santora. Levine is also directing the Days of Thunder sequel for Paramount with Tom Cruise. Paramount boss David Ellison produced through Skydance Sports along with Dana Goldberg and Don Granger.
Mr. Irrelevant opens December 25. Corenswet suits back up next in Man of Tomorrow, in theaters July 9, 2027.
