INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 04: Sports commentator Michael Irvin looks on during warmups at Lucas Oil Stadium prior to the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets on November 04, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
No matter what Michael Irvin does from here on out, he clearly won’t be returning to a Super Bowl press conference after allegations of misconduct came to light from a woman he met at a hotel.
Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Famer has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages for falsely alleging misconduct by a female employee at a Phoenix hotel. His lawsuit came after the remainder of NFL Network’s Super Bowl Week coverage was pulled following complaints about his behavior at a hotel on Sunday.
As they are accustomed to doing, TMZ Sports found some witnesses that night who back up Irwin about what happened between him and the woman.
Michael Irvin was pulled from NFL Network’s Super Bowl coverage after a woman accused him of misconduct in a hotel lobby, but now two alleged witnesses are coming to the Hall of Famer’s defense. https://t.co/io3C5WIpyO
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) February 11, 2023
The first witness was Fee Watkins, who claims she saw and overheard a conversation between 56-year-old Irvine and her alleged accuser. He described the conversation as “positive” and “friendly”.
“It was a positive, friendly conversation. They had a brief conversation, it was 30, 40 seconds, he kept his distance all the time, stood about a meter away from her, they ended with a handshake. And he literally turned and went to the elevator.
He denied that anything improper had happened.
“Not at all. Not at all. There were a few laughs too. Obviously a warm conversation. Nothing untoward for me to focus on what was really going on,” Watkins said.
He then spoke to a second alleged witness, Brian Davis of Philadelphia, who echoed Watkins’ story.
“We went back to go to the bar, [Irvin] Went straight to my hotel room, and I think someone who worked there, I don’t know if it was a waitress or a bartender, I think came over and said, ‘Hey Michael Irwin.’ And he said, ‘Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Michael’ and shook his hand.
“The weird thing was it was like a 30 second conversation. Could have been a minute. I didn’t really think much of it because it was just a fanboy kind of thing.
When Davis later learned that Irwin had been accused of misconduct, he was shocked.
“I think this morning I woke up and saw this thing that said, ‘Michael Irwin [misconduct]’, and I was like, God, I just took a picture with that guy, I can’t believe it.’ And then I read it and it was from the night I was there and I was like, this is shocking, because I saw it and I’ve never seen anything like it before.
The lawsuit alleges that a hotel manager gave “false information” to the NFL accusing Irvin of inappropriate behavior toward a hotel employee. The lawsuit states that Irwin was then “surprisingly woken up by a crew of security” and removed from the hotel “without explanation or questions.”
Irvin will have to miss the Super Bowl, but he has all offseason to clear his name.
