Dallas Cowboys legend Michael Irvin is looking for serious consequences against Marriot International after an employee made claims of misconduct at one of their hotels during Super Bowl Week.
It has been a tumultuous few weeks for Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin. Days before this year’s Super Bowl, he was removed from his job with NFL Media and halted from being an analyst for ESPN after a Marriot employee at a Phoenix Hotel filed a complaint that the 57-year-old conducted himself in an improper way during an encounter in the building’s lobby.
Related: Dallas Cowboys legend suing Marriott for $100 million
Irvin claimed he was confused by the claims in public statements soon after the incident, and eventually filed a $100 million lawsuit against the hotel chain and seeking to clear his name.
On Wednesday, the Hall-of-Famer made his first public statements on the February incident during a news conference. And in explaining his frustration and confusion with his situation, the NFL great compared his current predicament with some of the worst moments of racism in American history.
“This sickens me. This takes me back to a time when a white woman would accuse a black man of something, and they’d drag him through the mud and hang him by a tree. … It just blows my mind that in 2023 we are still dragging, and hanging brothers.”
– Michael Irvin (via Front Office Sports)
With his suit against Marriot in the early stages, his lawyer Levi McCathern recently requested security footage of the alleged incident between his client and the unnamed employee. McCathern has reportedly seen the surveillance video but Marriot has been resistant to offer up a copy of the video, even after a court order to do so.
Irvin blasted the corporation on Tuesday over their resistance and claimed they were deserving of serious consequences if they can’t prove the complaint has any validity.
“To not listen to the court, Marriott is above the law because I still haven’t seen this tape. I want to see what I’ve been accused of. Why did that put my whole life on hold? Why does my family have to endure [this]? If I did something wrong, I’ll suffer the consequences of me doing something wrong. But if they did something wrong, then they should suffer the consequences of what they did wrong.”
– Michael Irvin
Two witnesses from the incident also spoke during the news conference, via Zoom. Neither could describe anything unusual that occurred between the Dallas Cowboys legend and the alleged victim.