Brock Purdy will be the first Mr. Irrelevant — the last player selected in the NFL draft — to start at quarterback in a Super Bowl.
But the San Francisco 49ers second-year QB is far from the first long shot to guide his team to the big game.
Here’s a look at some other unheralded quarterbacks to start in the Super Bowl.
Brad Johnson
While no one else has gone from the final pick in the draft to under center in the Super Bowl, Purdy isn’t the lowest-drafted player drafted to do it.
That honor belongs to Brad Johnson, who was taken 227th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 1992 when the draft was 12 rounds instead of the current seven.
The ninth-round pick spent five years with the Vikings before moving on to Washington and then Tampa Bay, where he led the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl in 2003 when the Bucs pounded the Raiders.
Kurt Warner
The ultimate football underdog story, Warner went from undrafted out of Northern Iowa to stops in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe, as well as working as a clerk in a grocery store to helming one of the most dominant offenses in NFL history with the St. Louis Rams as part of The Greatest Show on Turf.
Warner became the only undrafted player in history to win Super Bowl MVP and NFL MVP.
In 1999, he took over for the injured Trent Green in the preseason and was dominant throughout the year, leading the Rams to a Super Bowl win over the Tennessee Titans.
Jake Delhomme
Like Warner, Delhomme was also undrafted out of college and was limited to spots on practice squads with the New Orleans Saints and action in NFL Europe before breaking through with the Carolina Panthers in 2003.
That season, Delhomme and Carolina reached the Super Bowl, where Delhomme played well, but the Panthers came up short against the New England Patriots thanks to a game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri.
Tom Brady
Speaking of the Patriots, before Tom Brady became the greatest quarterback of all time, he was a sixth-round pick (199th overall) out of Michigan and was on the bench for virtually his entire rookie season.
It wasn’t until his second year, when Drew Bledsoe was knocked out by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis during the second game of the season, that Brady became the starter.
The rest is history — and Brady’s history began to create his legacy that season with a win over the St. Louis Rams in 2002.
Mark Rypien
The former Washington Redskins’ QB was drafted in the sixth round (146th overall) in 1986 and then spent most of his first two years on injured reserve.
Rypien became the full-time starter in 1989, replacing Doug Williams, and guided Washington to a Super Bowl win over the Buffalo Bills in 1992, when he was also named Super Bowl MVP.
Jeff Hostetler
Hostetler started just two games in his first four seasons with the Giants before Phil Simms went down for the season in Week 14 in 1986.
Hostetler and the Giants went on to win their second Super Bowl title, pulling off a massive upset of the Bills.
David Woodley
Selected by the Miami Dolphins in the eighth round (214th overall) of the 1980 draft, Woodley was in his third season when Miami reached the Super Bowl and lost to Washington in 1983.
Doug Williams
The former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in the USFL before returning to the NFL with Washington Redskins in 1986.
Williams started just two games in the 1987 regular season, but was named the starter, over Jay Schroeder, by Joe Gibbs in the playoffs.
Williams was named Super Bowl MVP after throwing for a then-Super Bowl record 331 yards.
Nick Foles
The former third-round pick by the Eagles in 2012 returned to Philadelphia in 2017 and took over for the injured Carson Wentz during the season.
Foles was named Super Bowl MVP after the Eagles’ win over New England.
Matt Hasselbeck
The former Boston College QB went from being a sixth-round pick by the Green Bay Packers in 1998 to the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2006, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rex Grossman
Chicago’s first-round pick in 2003, Grossman didn’t start as a rookie and then missed most of the next two years with injuries.
In 2006, his only season as a full-time starter, Grossman got the Bears to the Super Bowl — despite throwing 20 interceptions in the regular season.
Chicago lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl.
Chris Chandler
Chandler was on his sixth team when he and the Atlanta Falcons reached the Super Bowl in 1999, where they lost to the Denver Broncos.
