Key, dressed in suit and tie, stood at the front of a yacht, surrounded by cheerleaders in Jets garb. The boat moved through the marina, in the wake of a police escort blasting its siren. Flanking it were two jet skis, the drivers holding New York Jets flags aloft.
He waved to passersby, and tried his best to hold a smile. Key wants to be a recognizable face in the NFL , but this sort of attention makes him a bit uncomfortable. He played college football for a year at Alabama but wasn't exactly famous, even in football-mad Tuscaloosa. He's an NFL player, but almost nobody outside the Jets' suburban New Jersey facility would recognize him on the street.
Here in Newport, though, he was the man of the hour. The man of the week, to be exact. On a recent Tuesday evening, hundreds of adoring supporters cheered for him as he stepped off the boat, "Benny and the Jets" blaring. A silly tone to start a silly week. Everyone was there — at The Cannery restaurant — to see him, talk about him, talk to him, and roast him. This was only the beginning, a whole week dedicated to him, all because the Jets decided to pick him 257th overall in April, the last pick of the NFL Draft, the 49th-ever Mr. Irrelevant.
"One of our goals," said Melanie Salata Fitch, CEO of Irrelevant Week, "is to try and have him feel as if he's a celebrity, to make him feel welcome."
Key does not lack confidence, even if he's quiet when eyes are on him. He's quiet when they aren't too. But the Mr. Irrelevant celebration crew helped to crack away at his shell. If his smiles were forced on Tuesday, by Friday they were real.
This wasn't Key's first trip to Los Angeles, but it was his first time in Los Angeles traffic. The last time he was here, for the Rose Bowl in January, the players got police escorts to the stadium.
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