Some New York Giants stories never leave the building. John Tuggle’s is one of them.
On Sunday, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Sports released the first trailer for Mr. Irrelevant, the Christmas Day film that finally puts that story on a movie screen.
David Corenswet plays Tuggle, the California running back New York took with the last pick of the 1983 NFL draft, No. 335 overall. The league called him "Mr. Irrelevant." The Giants soon learned otherwise. He became the first last pick to make the roster of the team that drafted him, then spent an entire season proving the nickname was a joke.
It was Bill Parcells’ first year as head coach and a 3-12-1 grind. Tuggle played all 16 games. Teammates voted him Special Teams Player of the Year. When Rob
Carpenter went down, Tuggle stepped in at fullback. The stat line was modest: 17 carries for 49 yards and a touchdown, three catches for 50 yards, 156 kick-return yards. The impression was not. Parcells later said he learned more from Tuggle than from any other player he coached.
The movie, directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Nick Santora, follows the fight to stick, a new love portrayed by Isabel May, and the cancer that stole the rest. Tuggle was diagnosed in 1984. He died Aug. 30, 1986, in Tijuana, Mexico. He was 25.
Michael Shannon plays Parcells. David Krumholtz appears as Julius “Whitey” Horai.
Corenswet talked about a man defined by optimism who suddenly faced a fight he could not win, and whether grace and humor could still make something of it. Levine said Corenswet was the only actor he could see in the part.
The trailer opens on Tuggle in that orange Mr. Irrelevant jersey, then moves through camp, the relationship, and the first signs that something was wrong. Anyone who has heard the old stories already knows how it ends. In 1986, the Giants wore his No. 38 on their helmets all the way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Mr. Irrelevant opens only in theaters on Dec. 25.
For a franchise that still talks about the kid who refused to be the last man in the room, that date feels about right.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: The Irrelevant Giant gets his movie: John Tuggle biopic set for Christmas
