NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin remains off the network after an incident with a woman at an Arizona hotel while covering the Super Bowl led to his removal.
Irvin has launched a $100 million lawsuit against the woman who has alleged misconduct against him, with a court ruling in February that Marriott needed to release security camera footage to the Pro Football Hall of Famer. The hotel chain has yet to do so, with Irvin likening the situation to a lynching during a Wednesday news conference.
“This sickens me,” Irvin said. “Because in this great country this takes me back to a time when a white woman would accuse a Black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in a barn, throw a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud, and hang him by the tree. Not a thought about what would happen, not an investigation, not after repeated attempts of people trying to go ‘Guys, here’s what really happened. Here are witnesses that will say this, here are witnesses that will say that’, they say ‘We don’t wanna hear it. We do not wanna hear it’.
“How can I defend myself when I don’t know what I’m defending myself against? They ask me ‘Do you remember this girl you met in the lobby?’ I work. I live and stay in hotels all year long. I meet people walking in and out of the lobby every day. I couldn’t even tell you what she looked like. I don’t know!”
According to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News, Irvin’s attorney was allowed to watch the video of the interaction between Irvin and the accuser, but has not been given a copy of the video and was not allowed to record it or show it to Irvin. Levi McCathern — Irvin’s attorney — has filed an emergency motion to acquire the video, and has called the allegations “nonsense”.
“It just blows my mind that I have no opportunity to defend myself. I don’t even know what I’m defending,” Irvin continued. “To not listen to the court, Marriott is above the law. I still haven’t seen this tape.”
