The SportsEye is asking both Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch and Howard Balzer of 1380 ESPN to disclose how they voted on Michael Irvin in Hall of Fame balloting. Irvin was again rejected this year, and again it was for reasons that have nothing to do with his performance on the field.
If voters don’t like Irvin, that’s fine. But to hold him out of the Hall of Fame because of his off-field behavior is petty and childish. Any Hall of Fame with Lawrence Taylor as a member could have a Michael Irvin.
Irvin made the first cut, down from 15 to 10 candidates, but his name was eliminated when voters trimmed the list to the final six.
Irvin’s career matches up with any receiver in the Hall of Fame: 750 receptions, 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns and a record 11 100-yard receiving games in 1995, when the Cowboys won their third Super Bowl.
Thank goodness that one athlete is not afraid to speak his mind on this subject. It turns out to be one of Irvin’s closest friends and a former Cowboy, who will be enshrined on the first ballot when he becomes eligible after the 2009 season.
“This is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, not the Life Hall of Fame,” said Emmett Smith.
“His stats are what they are. They are not going to change. But you’re going to try to bring this personal side of it? This is what he’s done off the field – what has that got to do with what he’s done on the football field?”
Smith, who rarely raises his voice on television, was pounding a table and pointing when he said, “There should be a set criteria in terms of understanding … what it takes to get to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If you’re an athlete and you’ve got credentials like Michael Irvin – Pro Bowls, records, Super Bowls, all those things – if you stack up against that, whoever the panel is, somebody needs to sign off on it.”
