The NFL Network removed analyst Michael Irvin from its Super Bowl coverage after allegations were filed by a woman in Arizona on Sunday. They announced that Irvin would not appear on the channel at all this week.
Michael Irvin Photo Credit: Stephen Luke, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
While it’s unclear what the woman’s complaint entailed, Irvin is on ice until the investigation is cleared up. NFL spokesman Alex Reithmiller told the New York Post, “Michael Irvin will not be part of the NFL Network’s Super Bowl LVII week coverage.”
That means he will not take part in the network’s massive coverage of The Big Game this weekend. The Philadelphia Eagles are set to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale at State Farm Stadium.
Michael Irvin appears on Celebrity Family Feud via ABC YouTube
Irvin denied any wrongdoing, saying that his only interaction with the woman included nothing more than a mere handshake.
“We shook hands. Then, I left. … That’s all I know,” Irvin explained to The Dallas Morning News when the story broke. “Sunday night … when I came into the hotel, they asked what I did and I said, ‘I just went straight to the room,’ Irvin added on 105.3 the Fan in Dallas.
“But I guess I had met somebody in the lobby. Talked to somebody in the lobby for about a minute and then I went to my room. And then after I got up there, they said they had to move me in the hotel. I said, ‘Move me in the hotel for what?’”
Michael Irvin via NFL Films YouTube
He continued, “So they moved my hotel, and I said, ‘What’s going on guys? What’s happening? Why are we moving hotels?’ They said, ‘Well, last night you walked in, you talked to somebody.’ I said, ‘I didn’t talk to anybody. I went straight to the room.’ And then they showed it on camera that I did talk to somebody.”
“I talked to this girl for about a minute. I don’t know what — they didn’t show it to me. They told it to me. I didn’t see it. But that’s why they moved me because I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked, and so they moved me,” he asserted.
Michael Irvin via NFL Films YouTube
So, Michael Irvin is out of the rotation, at least temporarily, with the NFL Network.
But he’s still scheduled to guest on ESPN’s First Take, a show hosted by Stephen A. Smith. And unless this allegation leads to serious charges it’s doubtful that it will affect The Paymaker’s long-term status as a broadcaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W5neQmqtlQ
Irvin is no stranger to both the football spotlight and the felony sheet. He accumulated 750 catches for 11,904 yards with 65 touchdowns, and he won three Super Bowls before being inducted into Canton in 2007.
The big-play receiver spent his entire 12-year career with the Dallas Cowboys and is considered a Dallas sports icon.
Michael Irvin via NFL Films YouTube
However, his name will always be associated with drug issues and brushes with the law. He’s had multiple charges that stemmed from possession of a controlled substance as well as paraphernalia.
On July 29, 1998, Irvin allegedly assaulted fellow Cowboys offensive lineman Everett McIver. The younger player had refused to vacate a barber’s chair at the team facility upon Irvin’s demand. So during the course of the dispute, the veteran superstar grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed McIver in the neck.
Michael Irvin via NFL Films YouTube
He’s also been involved in at least three different sexual misconduct allegations prior to this most recent incident.
Irvin has been an analyst with the NFL Network since 2009 and makes occasional appearances on ESPN.