Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy 'battles' waves in surfing debut

Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy rides a wave during surf lessons near 30th Street and West Oceanfront on Thursday.

By Andrew TurnerStaff Writer

June 23, 2022 7:26 PM PT

Irrelevant Week may be winding down, but not before Mr. Irrelevant himself had a chance to wipe out on the waves at 30th Street in Newport Beach.

The traditional surf lesson took place Thursday morning, about two dozen family members and supporters in attendance to see the beloved Brock Purdy get up on a board.

Though the conditions failed to cooperate, the judges proved even tougher, as the great Australian surfer Peter “PT” Townend held up the scorecards for each attempt to ride the waves.

Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy, left, and his sister, Whittney, try to catch a wave during surf lessons.

Purdy, who said he had some experience with water activities, was trying his hand at surfing for the first time. As competitive as quarterbacks can be, Purdy was not going to give in easily, but for the first hour, the highest mark he earned from Townend was a 4 out of 10.

“I was just riding basically the whitewash and stuff, but if we had some bigger waves, I could possibly get that number up to like a 7 or an 8,” Purdy said.

Don Harrell, a cousin of Purdy’s who lives in San Clemente, spoke to the surfing conditions as he watched the former Iowa State quarterback and his sister, Whittney, make their surfing debuts. Harrell’s daughter, Camryn, had markedly more success as the most experienced member of the trio.

Carrie Purdy laughs after World Surfing Champion Peter "PT" Townend holds up a score of 1.

“They’re realizing it’s harder than it looks, and even though it’s these 1-foot waves, it takes a little bit of skill to actually get into them and pop up and ride them,” Harrell said. “The wind’s not helping them. The instructor, as good as he is, it’s still super hard to get him into a real wave in conditions like this.

“They’re battling. You see how hard Brock’s battling for some of these waves. He’s determined. He told me last night when we were together, ‘I’m too competitive. I’m for sure getting up, so I’m going to make it happen,’ and he did. He has. We’ve got the world-famous Peter Townend, ‘PT,’ the judge, putting up scores, so we’re having a good time. Brock and Whittney are, for first-timers, pretty good.”

Purdy, drafted with the 262nd and final pick of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, had the chance to be around the team that drafted his father, Shawn, when he went to the Angels game on Tuesday. The Angels took a 12-11 loss in 11 innings, but Shohei Ohtani homered twice and had a career-best eight runs batted in.

Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy wipes out on his first attempt during surf lessons near 30th Street.

After an eventful Lowsman Banquet on Monday night, Purdy went to Knott’s Berry Farm Tuesday. On Wednesday, he appeared in studio for NFL Network before ending the evening with a pub crawl back in town. He also had a meet-and-greet with the Newport Beach junior lifeguards Thursday.

“For this week, it’s a celebration, really, for my family and I, and so I’m just having fun with it,” Purdy said. “We’re all enjoying it. We’re very thankful for the whole Irrelevant Week team, the Fitch [family] and everyone that has created this event. We’re very thankful, I think, more than anything, and just having fun with family friends that we haven’t seen in a long time out here in California.”