Txbroadcaster
08-04-2007, 05:54 PM
I grew up here in 49er/Raider country, and like most people who live here, I grew up disliking the Dallas Cowboys and was definitely not a fan of Michael Irvin. That continued until I was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1995. Having moved back to the Bay Area, people now often ask me what it was like playing with Michael Irvin, and here is basically how I feel about it:
Michael Irvin was the best teammate you would ever want to have. He was the hardest working guy I ever played with. Whether it was a morning practice in training camp or a Wednesday in October, he practiced like it was a Sunday every time and elevated the game of everyone around him, and during the off-season, nobody worked harder. He was great with young guys, and he was a tremendous locker room guy.
When I was a rookie at the 1995 Super Bowl in Tempe, I flew a kid from Seattle to the game who had cancer. His name was Colt, and he was such a big Cowboy fan that prior to losing his hair to chemotherapy, he dyed his hair Cowboy blue. After we won the game, we went to the after party along with my family, and my Dad went around asking players to swing by and say hi to him because he only had one leg and was not very mobile. Michael had just arrived to the party and had not even said hello to anyone, and my Dad introduced himself to him and asked if he could swing by and say hello to the kid at some point. Michael said, "You're Eric's Dad? Well Eric is a part of my family and that makes you part of my family, so anything you need, I'm there." He proceeded to visit with the kid and sign his book and take about 50 pictures with everyone in my family along with Colt and his Mom. He spent about 20 minutes with him before going out to visit with the other thousand people who were waiting to congratulate him. That kid has since passed away, but I'm sure the visit with Michael was the highlight of the whole Super Bowl trip for him.
Some of Michael's off the field activities cause people to be surprised by some of this, but I've never met anyone who enjoyed football more than him, especially game day, and he was by far the best teammate I have ever had, in any sport, at any level. I'm looking forward to seeing his well deserved induction into the Hall of Fame this weekend.
Eric Bjornson
http://cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/2007/08/irvin_teammate_weighs_in.html#more
Michael Irvin was the best teammate you would ever want to have. He was the hardest working guy I ever played with. Whether it was a morning practice in training camp or a Wednesday in October, he practiced like it was a Sunday every time and elevated the game of everyone around him, and during the off-season, nobody worked harder. He was great with young guys, and he was a tremendous locker room guy.
When I was a rookie at the 1995 Super Bowl in Tempe, I flew a kid from Seattle to the game who had cancer. His name was Colt, and he was such a big Cowboy fan that prior to losing his hair to chemotherapy, he dyed his hair Cowboy blue. After we won the game, we went to the after party along with my family, and my Dad went around asking players to swing by and say hi to him because he only had one leg and was not very mobile. Michael had just arrived to the party and had not even said hello to anyone, and my Dad introduced himself to him and asked if he could swing by and say hello to the kid at some point. Michael said, "You're Eric's Dad? Well Eric is a part of my family and that makes you part of my family, so anything you need, I'm there." He proceeded to visit with the kid and sign his book and take about 50 pictures with everyone in my family along with Colt and his Mom. He spent about 20 minutes with him before going out to visit with the other thousand people who were waiting to congratulate him. That kid has since passed away, but I'm sure the visit with Michael was the highlight of the whole Super Bowl trip for him.
Some of Michael's off the field activities cause people to be surprised by some of this, but I've never met anyone who enjoyed football more than him, especially game day, and he was by far the best teammate I have ever had, in any sport, at any level. I'm looking forward to seeing his well deserved induction into the Hall of Fame this weekend.
Eric Bjornson
http://cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/2007/08/irvin_teammate_weighs_in.html#more