First Trailer for ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ Reveals David Corenswet’s Post-Superman Underdog Story

Sports movies live and die by their underdog, and few real-life stories fit that mold quite like the one Hollywood just decided to tell. Every NFL Draft ends with a player earning a nickname nobody wants: Mr. Irrelevant, given to whoever gets picked dead last.

Most players who carry that label fade quietly from the league. But one man’s story became so remarkable that it’s now getting the full biopic treatment, timed perfectly to premiere alongside this year’s football season buzz.

That film is ‘Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story,’ and its first trailer has officially arrived, giving audiences their first real look at David Corenswet stepping into a very different kind of heroic role. The film follows Tuggle, who was selected last in the final round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, and his fight to prove that draft position doesn’t define potential.

Corenswet, fresh off playing the Man of Steel himself, trades a cape for cleats in this true story of perseverance. Tuggle spent much of his rookie season on special teams before an injury to running back Rob Carpenter opened the door for him to start at fullback in Week 12, a breakthrough that eventually earned him his teammates’ vote for special teams player of the year.

First trailer for ‘MR. IRRELEVANT’, starring David Corenswet.

The film follows John Tuggle, who was given the title of ‘Mr Irrelevant’ after being the last pick of the last round of the 1983 NFL draft.

In theaters on December 25. pic.twitter.com/uqe2ZFWcrI

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The film doesn’t stop at football triumph. Tuggle was diagnosed with cancer in 1984 and died in 1986 at just 25 years old, and the trailer signals that his story becomes as much about resilience in the face of mortality as it is about making an NFL roster. That emotional weight is reflected in the film’s supporting cast, led by Michael Shannon as Giants head coach Bill Parcells, Isabel May as Tuggle’s love interest Katie, and David Krumholtz as Julius “Whitey” Horai.

Jonathan Levine, whose credits include ’50/50′ and ‘Warm Bodies,’ directs the film from a script by Nick Santora. The project marks the first feature-length theatrical release from the partnership between the NFL and Skydance Sports, following their earlier documentary collaboration, ‘America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys.’

Early buzz around the film has been notably strong. Test screenings reportedly delivered near-perfect scores, including a 100 from women over 35 and a 95 from men in the same age group, with an overall average score of 92 across all viewers.

That kind of reception suggests Paramount may have a genuine crowd-pleaser on its hands heading into the busy holiday box office corridor. Releasing ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ on Christmas Day puts it in direct competition with whatever other awards contenders and family films studios line up for the date, but the built-in audience of NFL fans could give it a distinct advantage.

For Corenswet, the role represents a deliberate pivot away from the scale and spectacle of a franchise like Superman toward something far more grounded and human. Trading superpowers for the very real story of a man who refused to let a label define him seems like a fitting way to close out a year that already saw him become one of the industry’s most in-demand leading men.

With the trailer now circulating widely and football season officially underway, ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ looks positioned to become one of this winter’s more unexpected emotional gut punches. Whether it can translate strong test scores into box office success remains to be seen, but the story behind it is compelling enough to carry the weight on its own.

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