Michael Irvin Compares Marriott International’s Treatment of Him To ‘Dragging And Hanging Brothers By The Tree’
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NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin had his first news conference to address misconduct allegations that he compared to “dragging and hanging brothers by the tree.”
Prior to the start of the NFL’s Super Bowl LVII media week, NFL Network announced that Irvin would not be on any of their broadcasts. On Wednesday of that week, he told the Dallas Morning News by phone about the alleged incident from that Sunday night, and Irvin was confused as to why his boss told him he would not be on for the rest of the week.
“Honestly, I’m a bit baffled with it all,” Irvin said in the interview. “This all happened in a 45-second conversation in the lobby. 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.”
Irvin countered the woman’s allegations, and he filed a $100 million lawsuit against her and her employer, hotel and hospitality company Marriott International, Inc..
On Wednesday, Irvin was at a news conference in Dallas and discussed the claims that were made about him.
“This sickens me,” Irvin said. “This sickens me because, in this great country, this takes me back to a time where 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, put a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud, and hand him by the tree.”
He explained that Marriott has held the video evidence from him and his lawyers, and he found it unfair to put out an accusation without proving it.
“How can I defend myself if I don’t even know what I’m defending myself against?” Irvin said. “They asked me, ‘do you remember this girl you met in a lobby?’ I work, I live in hotels, I stay in hotels all year long. From August til September, I meet people every day.”
“I couldn’t even tell you what she looked like,” he said. “This just blows my mind that in 2023, we still dragging and hanging brothers by the tree. That blows my mind.”
Irvin broke down in tears after a witness gave his account of the alleged misconduct brought against the Hall of Fame wide receiver.
“I gotta come back to this moment had I not said to these guys, ‘you know what? You’re cool, guys. Let’s go outside and take that picture.’ Then they wouldn’t have been right there with me, and that would’ve been a moment that I had alone,” Irvin said.
“And I know nobody’s going to listen to what I have to say,” he said. “Nobody, still, at least Marriott, don’t want to hear what we have to say. Don’t want to hear what I have to say and don’t even care to share it. So, I just got emotional thinking about it.”
Watch both videos above via @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.
