Dallas Cowboys Legend Michael Irvin Details Why He Snitched on Teammates

Michael Irvin described himself as a "snitch" during the early years of his Dallas Cowboys career.

Dallas Cowboys legend Michael Irvin. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Upon entering the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, franchise legend Michael Irvin was taken aback by the mentality of some of his teammates.

As Irvin noted on the "Champion Mindset with Daniel Cormier" podcast, some of Irvin's Cowboys teammates were more concerned about cashing their check than winning.

Irvin saw this after he lost his first game in the league with the Cowboys and couldn't believe it.

“I remember that first game, we lost that game. I was literally crying, because I wasn’t losing much and I couldn’t take it," Irvin said. "And I got guys, I’ll never forget it, telling me, ‘Come on, rook. This ain’t what we do in the NFL. We’re just gonna pick that check up on Tuesday.’”

“It crushed me. I’d been working my a** off to get here to play with these dudes, and I got dudes saying this to me," Irvin added.

With a mindset like that, it's clear the Cowboys had some players who were just going through the motions, which is certainly not going to help a team turn things around.

With a desire to change the culture in the locker room, Irvin said he "was a snitch" in Year 2 and called players out for the aforementioned mentality.

“But Jimmy Johnson came in (the next year)… and I was a snitch. I told everybody that touched me, your a** got to go, because we’re not going to get there with that thought," Irvin said.

The culture change Cowboys needed

Former Dallas Cowboys Michael Irvin, Jimmy Johnson and Emmitt Smith. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Based on Irvin's story, the Cowboys desperately needed a culture change. It just seemed like losing didn't matter anymore for a team that had posted two losing seasons in a row before Irvin got there, and three losing seasons in a row after he arrived.

However, things shifted drastically upon Jimmy Johnson's arrival in 1989. Dallas showed improvement in a 7-9 season in Johnson's first year and he was voted as the Coach of the Year.

From there, the Cowboys were off and running en route to winning seasons and postseason appearances in the next eight of nine campaigns, and they of course won three Super Bowls in that span, also.

Even with all of that success, Irvin has said he still has regrets about not winning more rings.

“All I knew about was winning championships," he said to Cormier. "I won three Super Bowls, and crying I'm about I should have won five. I live in hell thinking about I should have won two more.”

Irvin's recount of the early days in Dallas just go to show that he did more than just put up great numbers for the Cowboys. He was also instrumental in turning around the culture in Dallas.

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