Michael Irvin's Hall of Fame career
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by Behbigben15
As you all know, ex-cowboys receiver Michael Irvin is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend. Michael was a spectacular receiver, but many people don't like him, mostly redskins fans, but others disliked him because he was thought to be a trouble maker.
Here is a look at his career in football
College Football Career
While playing for the Miami Hurricanes (1984-87), Irvin set school records in catches (143), receiving yards (2,423), and TD catches (26), all this in just three years as the starter.
In the 1988, Irvin was drafted as the 11th overall pick by the cowboys, whom Irvin played with for the rest of his career.
NFL Career
In his rookie season, he performed, well, like a rookie. He caught just 32 passes for 654 receiving yards, and 5 TD's, as the cowboys struggled to win games, and finished the season 3-13. The next two years Irvin just went downhill, in '89 Irvin experienced a sophmore slump and caught just 26 passes, for 378 yards, and just 2 TD's, but he only played in six games as compared to fourteen in his rookie season, and in '89 his team went a whopping 1-15. His third year still didn't go that well, but it did improve. The cowboys went 7-9, and Irvin caught just 20 passes for 413 yards, and 5 TD's, in twelve games.
Finally, in 1991, the cowboys discovered Irvin had talent, and utilized him the right way, the team improved as well. Irvin caught 93 passes for 1,523 yards and 8 TD's, as Dallas headed to the playoffs as the wild card team. Dallas beat the the bears 17-13 in the NFC wild card game, but lost the following week to the Lions 38-6.
The next four years, Irvin was Pro Bowl caliber, he caught 356 passes for 5,570 yards, and 30 TD's from 1992-95. During those years the cowboys went 49-15 winning the division each year, and winning the super bowl three out of the four years (52-17, and 30-13 over the Bills in '92, and '93, and 27-17 over Pittsburgh in '95).
In 1996 Michael suffered a colloar bone injury, so he played just 11 games and caught 64 passes for 962 yards, for 2 TD's. He recovered, and the next two seasons returned to pro bowl caliber (75 receptions for 1,180 yards and 9 TD's in '97, and 74 catches for 1,057 yards and 1 TD in '98). But, during the week five game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Irvin was tackled hard by Philly DB TIm Hauck, and went head-first into the Veteran Stadium concrete surface, Irvin sustained a cervical spinal cord injury and was forced into early retirement.
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Career Stats
Recieving stats by year (regular season):
1988- 32 Rec, 654 Yds, 5 TD
1989- 26 Red, 378 Yds, 2 TD
1990- 20 Rec, 413 Yds, 5 TD
1991- 93 Rec, 1,523 Yds, 8 TD
1992- 78 Rec, 1,396 Yds, 7 TD
1993- 88 Rec, 1,330 Yds, 7 TD
1994- 79 Rec, 1,241 Yds, 6 TD
1995- 111 Rec, 1,603 Yds, 10 TD
1996- 64 Rec, 962 Yds, 2 TD
1997- 75 Rec, 1,180 Yds, 9 TD
1998- 74 Rec, 1,057 Yds, 1 TD
1999- 10 Rec, 167 Yds, 3 TD
Career- 750 Rec, 11,904 Yds, 65 TD
Conference Championship and Super bowl
1992 NFC Championship- 6 Rec, 86 Yds
1993 NFC Championship- 2 Rec, 23 Yds
1994 NFC Championship- 12 Rec, 192 Yds, 2 TD's
1995 NFC Championship- 7 Rec, 100 Yds, 2 TD's
SB XXVII- 6 Rec, 114 Yds, 2 TD's
SB XXVIII- 5 Rec, 66 Yds
SB XXX- 5 Rec, 76 Yds
Honors
- Five Pro Bowl selections
- Pro Bowl MVP in 1992
- Inducted into Cowboys Ring of Honor on September 19, 2005
- Nicknamed "The Playmaker"
Why people don't like him
Other than the Redskin's, and Eagle's players and fans, many people dislike, more like hate Michael Irvin. I am not sure why, but it may just be because they think he is a jerk. He was arrested in 1996 for possession of Cocaine, and was allegedly involved in a couple off the field incidents including a sexual assault, although he was found not guilty, and later found he was falsely accused, many people still believed he did it. He was arrested again in 2005 for another drug possession. People can think all they want about Michael Irvin, but, even as a steeler fan, I believe this is well-deserved for Irvin.
Don't forget about the rest
There are other well-deserving players getting inducted tommorrow, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Matthews, Gene Hickerson, Charlie Sanders, and Roger Wehrli, all of which are well-deserving as well.
Hall of Fame Game
To cap off the Hall of Fame weekend, the 2007 pre-season kicks off on Sunday at 8 P.M. on NFL Network as the Saints take on the Steelers, which means one game closer to the NFL regular season.
