We hardly ever see a Dallas Cowboys fan swallow their pride, much less a Dallas Cowboys player, current or former. But on rare occasions Cowboys fans have a self-actualization about their franchise, and the fact that their last Super Bowl was in the 90s. Still, the optimism concerning the Cowboys Super Bowl chances are always through the roof, especially during the preseason.
But now we have a dedicated part of Cowboys Nation swallowing pride and showing love to the Philadelphia Eagles of all teams, and he’s one of the heart and centers of the famed organization.
Michael Irvin, former Cowboys wide receiver and Hall of Famer-turned NFL analyst has broken out of his shell and shown his true colors. Though those colors are mainly still blue and silver, there happens to be a little bit of green in there now.
The NFL analyst joined The National Football Show with Dan Sileo and was promptly asked about Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (cover your ears, Cowboys Nation). Irvin, who has grown increasingly frustrated with Dallas’ shortcomings, admits that he’s a fan of the young Philly team and wholeheartedly believes there’s massive potential with Hurts as the leader. So much potential that he can see them becoming a dynasty.
“Jalen Hurts? Absolutely, I’m a fan! I’m a fan of any winner. Jalen Hurts has been a winner. At Alabama, he’s winning at Oklahoma, and I’m so afraid. I’m so afraid of what he may be able to do in Philly. Because the two worst words you can hear if you’re part of Cowboys Nation in ‘Philadelphia Dynasty.’ Philly has something lined up right now that those two words can commingle. A Philadelphia dynasty. If they get the right man on the steering wheel — that’s the head coach — and the right man under center — that’s the quarterback — boy, that could be scary. And I like Jalen Hurts, I like his leadership, I like what he brings to the table. That could make it a different situation in Philly.”
So how does The Playmaker go from 64 catches, for 1,047, and five career touchdowns against the Eagles, dominating the Birds for a better half of two decades, to essentially being a fan of the 2022 Eagles?
Irvin explained his newfound support for the Eagles in a back-and-forth Q&A with former Miami U Teammate Dan Sileo, where Irvin also describes why he feels that these Eagles are hungrier than ever and will adopt the same underdog mentality that helped push them to their first Superbowl in 2017.
SILEO: “You think this Eagles team is good and compete with the Cowboys for the division title?”
IRVIN: “Yes it will. I’m saying all this too, now … these are — we won’t call them ‘misfits’ — but they can combine and make some kind of connection. DeVonta Smith can say, ‘People didn’t like me because I was too small, they didn’t think I could make it.’ Jalen Hurts can say, ‘People didn’t think I could make it because I wasn’t accurate enough, I couldn’t even play the quarterback position.’ Even A.J. Brown, they said of him and DK Metcalf, ‘Oh, he’s a little too stiff to become great NFL wide receivers.’”
“Once you get these kinds of players, and they’re the top players on your team, and somehow, they all have a chip on their shoulder about how they were treated, and they come together and show the whole damn world they were wrong, things can happen … that was a lot of what we did at [Sileo and Irvin were teammates at the University of] Miami. ‘Oh, y’all don’t like us? Oh, nobody likes us? We’re just gonna whup everybody’s ass then!’ … and I am absolutely scared and worried about what’s going on in Philly right now.”
It’s safe to say that the Eagles have a reluctant supporter in Irvin, even if he honestly doesn’t want them to be more successful than his ‘Boys. But a lot of people in the NFL share the same sentiment regarding these Eagles and how scary they can be if Hurts can take that next step into stardom.
It’s a huge if, but Irvin is willing to piss off Cowboys Nation and Jerry Jones to co-sign an Eagles come-up. So that’s either the kiss of death for the Eagles or a bold prediction from an insider. This 2022 season is already getting interesting.
