GLENDALE, Ariz. — Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin has been removed from the NFL Network’s coverage of the Super Bowl the rest of the week after a woman issued a complaint about his conduct during a hotel encounter in Glendale, Arizona.
The alleged encounter occurred on Sunday night in the lobby of the hotel, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“Michael Irvin will not be part of NFL Network’s Super Bowl LVII week coverage,” NFL Network spokesman Alex Riethmiller said in a statement to The Washington Post and the Morning News. Riethmiller did not elaborate, and Irvin’s status with the network beyond this week is unclear, according to the newspaper.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin will not be part of NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage for the rest of the week after he had what he is describing as a brief encounter with a woman at a hotel Sunday in Arizona. https://t.co/1zQna0VZX7
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 8, 2023
Irvin,’s scheduled appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” show on Friday was also canceled, the Post reported.
Irvin, 56, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007, told the Morning News that the encounter was brief, public and mostly non-physical. He added that he shook the woman’s hand before they parted, according to the newspaper.
Irvin told the Morning News that he returned to the hotel after having dinner and drinks with former Dallas safety Michael Brooks. He said he was in the lobby when he struck up a conversation with a woman.
“Honestly, I’m a bit baffled with it all,” Irvin said. “This all happened in a 45-second conversation in the lobby,” Irvin told the Morning News in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “When I got back after going out … I came into the lobby, and I talked to somebody. I talked to this girl. I don’t know her, and I talked to her for about 45 seconds.
“We shook hands. Then, I left. … That’s all I know.”
The woman has not spoken publicly about her encounter with Irvin, according to Sports Illustrated.
Irvin was conducting interviews for NFL Network on Monday night during Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, USA Today reported.
A Glendale police spokesperson and officials from other local police agencies said they had no knowledge of any incident involving Irvin, the Morning News reported.
“What law did I break?” Irvin told the newspaper. “There was definitely nothing physical. … That’s honestly all that happened. Nobody was in my room. It was a 45-second conversation in the lobby, a handshake and we left. … I don’t know. I don’t know what this is, and it’s running me crazy.”
Irvin has been an NFL Network analyst since 2009, ESPN reported.
The former wide receiver played 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys from 1988 to 1999, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. He appeared on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Cowboys.
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