Tim Toone: 10 Facts About Mr. Irrelevant

With the 255th overall pick, Detroit selected Tim Toone as Mr. Irrelevant of the NFL Draft. Toone is a 5-foot-10, 184-pound wide receiver out of Weber State who is expected to compete for Detroit's kickoff and punt returning jobs.

"I feel honored to be Mr. Irrelevant, but also to get drafted," Toone said after Detroit picked him.

Speed is undoubtedly his main asset, as Toone led the Big Sky Conference last season on punt returns with a 19.9-yard average and returned two punts back for touchdowns. Toone also surpassed 3,000 total yards receiving for the Wildcats and topped 80 receptions each of the past two seasons.

"I had a 90-yarder for a touchdown and a 95-yarder for a touchdown, so I guess that really helped my average," said Toone. "After that, teams pretty much stopped kicking the ball to me."

Needless to say, the Lions have a lot of rebuilding to do, and opted to be crafty in this year's draft to improve their chances. They traded five of their seven draft picks overall, but were left with just two picks between the second and sixth rounds. The Lions had three seventh-round selections before dealing one to Philadelphia for a sixth-round choice next season. With pick No. 214, they took North Carolina State defensive end Willie Young and then picked Toone to wrap up the day.



Share "We didn't anticipate taking a defensive end today, but we had Willie Young so high on our board that it was just a great value when he was still available," head coach Jim Schwartz said. "Then to finish off the day, we got a guy who I think is going to be a cult hero in this town in Tim Toone. He's a little white guy with dreadlocks who can really run and is an exciting returner."

Aside from being a "little white guy with dreadlocks" and Weber State's all-time leading receiver, here are eight more facts you probably didn't know about this year's Mr. Irrelevant, Tim Toone.

• He tied the Weber State single-game record for most touchdown passes caught in a game with four in a 26-7 victory over Sacramento State in 2007.

• Toone will be honored in Newport Beach, Calif., as part of "Irrelevant Week," an annual five-day bash founded by former NFL receiver Paul Salata which celebrates the last man drafted. In its 34-year history, the event has raised more than $1 million for local charities.


Tim Toone's YouTube highlight reel • Before finishing college, the 25-year-old served two years in West Africa on a Mormon mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the reasons Toone actually chose to play at Weber State was because they were willing to wait for him to finish his mission. "Nobody showed too much interest in me because I was leaving on a mission," Toone said in a recent interview. "I chose [Weber State] because they offered me and understood that I had to leave on a mission. I paid my own way for one semester and then I left on my mission. When I came back, I was on scholarship after that."

• He is the second Detroit player to be Mr. Irrelevant in the past three years. Former Lions cornerback Ramzee Robinson was picked last in 2007. (In case you're wondering, Robinson played 19 games for the Lions, was released in September 2009 and currently plays for the Browns.) Toone is also Weber State's second Mr. Irrelevant; tight end Cam Quayle got the honor in 1998.

• Toone told the Detroit Free Press he gets compared to diminutive Patriots wideout Wes Welker (surprise, surprise). "Having him in the league has helped me out a lot because he's not the biggest guy, but he's a hard worker, he runs great routes, he's quick," Toone said. "That's why people compare me to him, because I work hard. I try to find open holes and do everything I can to help the team win."

• Playing for Peoria High School in Arizona, Toone set a state record for yards per catch at 30.4 in 2002. In addition to football, he was a standout baseball and soccer player.

• He earned the nickname "Tarzan" by his teammates and coaches because he hasn't cut his hair in three years. "I take it as a compliment because he's ripped," Toone told the Standard-Examiner last October. "He's a good-looking guy." If Toone didn't get a shot at the NFL, he figured he would finally cut his hair "to look more like a typical person."

• His favorite team is the Arizona Cardinals and his favorite NFL player is Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald.

Here's to hoping his NFL career turns out as well as 2009's Mr. Irrelevant, Ryan Succop, who kicked his way to 104 points last season for the Chiefs.