John Tuggle
John Davis Tuggle was a running back in the National Football League. Tuggle was the last selection of the 1983 NFL Draft, selected by the New York Giants. The nickname given to the last player selected in the draft is "Mr. Irrelevant." He played that season with the team. He would go on to be awarded the New York Giants Special Teams Player of the Year that season.
Tuggle played high school football for Independence High School in San Jose, California. The school now holds an annual golf tournament in his memory, as a sports program fundraiser.
Tuggle died from cancer on August 30, 1986. Though they did not keep him on the team after the 1985 season, the Giants paid for Tuggle's health insurance for the remainder of his life, and wore his number 38 on their helmets during their 1986–87 Super Bowl winning season.
Coincidentally, another former Giant, Carl "Spider" Lockhart, a defensive back from 1965-75, died from lymphoma on July 9, 1986. The Giants honored Lockhart with a "Spider" patch on their jerseys throughout the 1986 season.
Tuggle was the subject of the 30 for 30 short, The Irrelevant Giant.
