Is It The End For Michael Irvin?

Oh, I used to like Mike. I've tried to like him always - I'm a Cowboys fan. But man... have you watched him on tv lately? Not that everyone with squinty eyes and slurred speech is using, but... I dunno.

And then there's this episode from the other day. Perhaps Ben Maller says it best:

Talking to ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick, Michael Irvin said that Tony Romo's stellar play might be attributable, not to talent and hard work, but to black heritage. Irvin suggested there might have been "some brother down in that line somewhere." Since Romo is almost as white as I am, it is possible that Irvin was joking. But Patrick apparently didn't think so and asked Irvin if black heritage was mandatory for athletic prowess. "That's not the only way, but it's certainly one way," Irvin replied. "If great -great -great- great- great- great- great- great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn ... `Come on in here for a second,' you know ... " Joke or not, by my count, that's offensive to blacks, whites, grandmothers and humanity in general. And if it was a joke, it's as unfunny as that Michael Richards' tirade. At this point, Irvin and ESPN have been silent on the issue though one hopes that Irvin will issue an apology on Sunday's NFL pre-game show. And let's hope it's not one of those phony "if I offended anyone" apologies. But the networks who hire people like Irvin are the ones who should be apologizing, and not just ESPN.
Posted November 24, by Ben Maller

Say it ain't so, Mike.