Michael Irvin

Michael Irvin
refer to caption
Irvin in 2023
No. 88
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1966-03-05) March 5, 1966 (age 58)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
College:Miami (FL) (19841987)
NFL draft:1988 / round: 1 / pick: 11
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:750
Receiving yards:11,904
Receiving touchdowns:65
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football player. He played his entire 12-year career as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Irvin played college football for the Miami Hurricanes and was selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He spent his entire 12-year NFL career from 1988 to 1999 with the Cowboys before it ended abruptly from a cervical fracture of his spine sustained in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium on October 10, 1999, in which Irvin was carted off the field and transported to a Philadelphia hospital.

Irvin was nicknamed "Playmaker" due to his penchant for making big plays in big games during his college and pro careers, and he relished the nickname, even acquiring "PLY MKR" as his Texas vanity license plate.[1] Along with Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, Irvin was one of three key Cowboys offensive players, known as "The Triplets", who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins in 1992, 1993, and 1995.[2]

Irvin is widely considered to be one of the greatest wide receivers of all time.[3][4][5]

Irvin is a former broadcaster for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown and currently an analyst for NFL Network. In 2009, he competed in Season 9 of Dancing with the Stars in which he was the season's ninth contestant to be eliminated.[6][7]

He is one of the co-hosts of the FS1 weekday morning debate show Undisputed with Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, and Skip Bayless.[8]

  1. ^ "Sports figures and their license plates", Sports Illustrated, February 8, 2012.]
  2. ^ "'Triplets' honored: Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin in Dallas' Ring". ESPN.com. September 20, 2005.
  3. ^ Tallent, Aaron (February 18, 2022). "25 Greatest Wide Receivers in NFL History". AthlonSports.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Patuto, Greg (May 15, 2020). "Ranking The 20 Greatest NFL Wide Receivers Of All Time". ClutchPoints. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Markarian, Jerry (April 27, 2022). "The 10 Best NFL Wide Receivers Of All Time, Ranked". TheSportster. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "Dancing With The Stars Season 9 Cast". Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  7. ^ Joyce Eng (August 17, 2009). "Dancing with the Stars 2009 Season 9 Cast Revealed!". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  8. ^ "Michael Irvin reaches deal to join Undisputed". NBC Sports. August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.