Hall of Fame WR Michael Irvin is still maintaining his innocence in the alleged incident at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, involving a female hotel employee. Irvin’s lawyer, Levi McCathern, called the allegations nonsense after viewing surveillance video.
McCathern and Irvin held a press conference with witnesses that back Irvin and they’ve filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Marriott Hotel corporation and the accuser. After viewing the video, the three witnesses continue to stand behind Irvin.
Is it time for Irvin to receive some apologies?
Irvin’s Legal Team Has Witnesses
Bryn Davis, one of the three men who spoke with Irvin at the hotel and took pictures with him and was nearby during the interaction with the female hotel employee, reportedly has made it clear that he didn’t see anything like what is being alleged. Davis has maintained that his views has not changed since watching the widely viewed surveillance footage of Irvin’s less than 2-minute interaction with the hotel employee.
“Nothing that I saw (in recent weeks) made me think, ‘Oh, shoot, maybe I think differently now or maybe I was wrong,'” Davis told The Dallas Morning News. “Nothing like that whatsoever. It just seems more fabricated than it did when it started.”
His companion Phil Watkins added, “In my opinion, he was essentially canceled until proven innocent.”
Far from definitive proof, but certainly credible. It looks like there may have been a rush to judgment on Irvin.
These are the five people or entities that should apologize:
Was There A Rush To Judgment On Irvin?
It seems there might have been a rush to judgment to vilify Irvin. He’s had trouble with the law in the past so you could see how some, including the media, were quick to jump on this story.
Irvin’s employer, The NFL Network, dropped him from its Super Bowl coverage that week and suspended him indefinitely. Marriott banned him from all of its hotels around the country.
You could see why Irvin compared the allegations levied against him, and the subsequent fallout as a result, to a lynching.
“This sickens me, this sickens me,” Irvin said in a video posted by The Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Gehlken. “Because in this great country, it 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 hang him by a tree.
“How can I defend myself if I don’t even know what I’m defending myself against? … This just blows my mind that in 2023, we’re still dragging and hanging brothers by a tree. That blows my mind that I have no opportunity to defend. I don’t even know what I’m defending.”
Marriott Hotel Corporation
The hotel should protect its employees and their reputation. But they should also not hinder an investigation. Initially they withheld the video and only after a judge ordered it released did they do so. They would not allow Irvin to see the video or allow his lawyer to make a copy of the video. If on-site management believed something untoward had occurred they should have called local police and filed a formal complaint.
NFL Network
If they made a hasty decision to remove Irvin from his scheduled appearances without proof, they should at the very least apologize. Just like Marriott should protects its employees, so too should the NFL Network.
Tabloids
Irvin is a Hall of Fame player and a charismatic individual. He is sure to make news with most things he does. Using this alleged incident with no concrete proof to bring up his past indiscretions and make clickbait is wrong and appeals to the lowest common denominator.
Accuser
In the #MeToo era, women should be believed when they make accusations of sexual assault or violence. Too often women are silenced and perpetrators of horrific crimes walk around free and continue to victimize women.
But when it is discovered that a woman lies or makes a false accusation, she too should be held to account. Making a false claim against someone is extremely dangerous and could have long-lasting impact.
Hotel Management
If nothing occurred, then they jumped the gun and made a big deal out of an innocuous situation.
More News From Our Partners:
Report: Troy Aikman Is Moving Like A Whole Diva At ESPN – The Shadow League
