'I Want Michael Irvin on 'First Take'!' Stephen A. Smith's Cowboys Demand
FRISCO - We may be about to find out just how powerful Stephen A. Smith in the corridors of Bristol, with him now going very public desire - or demand? - to have Dallas Cowboys icon Michael Irvin back in front of the camera.
"I want Michael Irvin back on 'First Take,'' Smith said on his podcast, making a reference to his ESPN TV show, which up until recently featured the outspoken Hall of Famer as a weekly co-host.
That all got derailed, along with Irvin's work at NFL Network, thanks to an alleged incident from Super Bowl Week earlier this year, when a female employee at a Phoenix hotel claimed that Irvin was guilty of sexual harassment. Irvin has insisted that he is innocent and in a $100 million lawsuit is insisting that his accusers have "evil minds.''
Nevertheless, the NFL Network and ESPN responded by pulling Irvin off the air that week. And he has yet to return.
During Friday's episode of his podcast, Smith said he wants two Hall of Fame pass-catchers, Shannon Sharpe and Irvin, as part of his rotating crew. Sharpe recently divorced himself from FS1's "Undisputed,'' co-hosted by the contrarian conman Skip Bayless, and is available for hire.
That's an easy call; Smith can get his way there - and Smith and Sharpe would surely enjoy going head-to-head with Bayless in the ratings. Obviously, though, the more difficult call for ESPN ... and the decision that has yet to be forced by Smith, if he truly wishes to do so, is about Irvin.
"We still haven't seen any evidence incriminating Michael Irvin,'' Smith said. "If we don't see that, this man should be on the airwaves.''
Especially because the video surveillance footage of the alleged incident failed to prove any wrongdoing, and also because of the concept of "innocent until proven guilty,'' it doesn't take an Irvin supporter to see the logic of ESPN bringing back "The Playmaker'' for his once-a-week gig.
And if Stephen A. Smith - who makes $12 million annually at ESPN and is considered the network's singular daily star - really wants to make it happen? We're interested to see if he just talks about it ... or actually flexes that muscle.
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