Humphrey Ker claims that prolific scorer Paul Mullin has developed into a “franchise player” for Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham.
One of the first big names the Red Dragons signed after two Hollywood celebrities joined as co-chairmen in 2021 was the 29-year-old frontman. Even though they were a National League team at the time, the Welsh team managed to get Mullin to return to his Merseyside origins. He has developed into a talisman for Phil Parkinson’s team, making him a legend among the supporters of the team and gaining a reputation similar to that of prominent figures in American sports.
Paul has an amazing mentality, executive director Ker said in a Men in Blazers podcast interview with Mullin. It’s a common occurrence in football circles: this man has an amazing mindset. He genuinely only cares about winning, scoring goals, and being offended if one of those things don’t happen. All of these attributes are things that we later discovered. At first, it was all based on statistics: see how he is performing and how many goals he is scoring for Cambridge. It would be a major victory if we could convince the leading goalscorer in League Two to move down to the National League. It just made sense from a mathematical standpoint.
As a result, we now know that he personifies and is the epitome of what is known as a “franchise player” in American sports. He is kind of like that. Our followers adore him. He is of a very similar mindset to Wrexham supporters; he simply wants to win for them and has many of the same political and philosophical views. It’s a traditional talisman football hero-fan relationship, and they revere him for it.
“Relief was a big sentiment last season because we were in such a life or death struggle with Notts County,” Ker said of the embarrassing reason he was unable to partake in the celebrations that accompanied Wrexham’s successful return to the Football League under Mullin’s leadership. Records were broken along the way. Whenever we triumphed, instead of expressing joy, you would say, “Thank God, we didn’t lose points.” That was present in very large doses. Huge amounts of pride, joy, and a sense of belonging were present. I make reference to my tendency to act like a plastic Liverpool supporter, saying things like “we won the Champions League,” and I frequently fail at it. Individuals ask, “We?” Did you play along? Did you participate in the entire process? Even though I paid my dues and am a member of the club, I have always felt a little bit like a fake Liverpool supporter. Other than the fact that I was born in Reading FC’s catchment area rather than Liverpool FC’s, my qualifications are on par with everyone else’s. Feeling a part of it that evening and sharing it with Rob, Ryan, Shaun [Harvey], and my wife—who had come over for the game, which was amazing – really was something so, so special.
I’m afraid the only thing I remember about that night is that I had really horrible BO. Strangely, it was a rather cool evening after such a scorching day. I had been rushing around, under stress, and I had dressed in numerous coats for the game. went to the on-field festivities before the players, along with their family and club employees, crowded inside one of the hospitality suites. We hauled in the sound system from the dressing room. There was wonderful mayhem, people dancing on tables. I entered somewhat covertly, removed my coat, and said, “Oh my god, what is that?” When I questioned my wife, who is usually the sweetest and most encouraging person in the world, she said, “Yeah, I can smell you,” instead of responding, “No, you’re alright.” If my wife is indeed saying that she smells something, then we are in for some serious dead body time. I’m afraid to confess that we left the party really early. I can’t let this be the only thing that people remember about this evening! I put my coat back on, gave several people high fives, told them I loved them, and we headed home. On our way home, we made sausage sandwiches at a garage, where we also got a bunch of sausages and bread. After that, we sat on the floor and browsed Twitter.
After recovering from a devastating injury sustained in the preseason, Mullin has continued to shine for Wrexham in the current campaign. The Red Dragons hope to play for promotion again in 2024, a role in which Ker can devote all of his energy and attention.
