Should ESPN release Michael Irvin?...Would Bill Parcels add anything as a commentator?

Question

From Don Meredith, to Dan Dierdorf to John Madden, many who were connected to professional football has found their way into the commentators booth and/or news sports commentary. Dan Marino, Tony Siragoosa, Mike Ditka and others have found their way into sports commentary. Would Bill Parcels, who coached in the AFC and the NFC be an added feature or just clutter up the field of commentaries?

Your thoughts on Michael Irvin leaving ESPN....

Michael Irvin Could Have a lot More Time to Do Illegal Stuff
Posted Feb 16th 2007 9:25AM by Ryan Wilson
Filed under: Cowboys, NFL Gossip, NFL Rumors, NFL Media Watch

I can't think of a better way to kick off the three-day weekend than with this bit of potentially good news from the New York Post (by way of Dan Shanoff):
Is ESPN on the verge of cutting ties with NFL analyst Michael Irvin?

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Nobody at ESPN would confirm or deny the report but The Network issued a statement that read, "We are currently in the process of discussing studio assignments for next season." Also, speculation has Bill Parcells joining ESPN though no deal is imminent.

Let's all hope that Irvin has been reassigned to the "Harold Reynolds News Desk." It's easy to make fun of ESPN -- they did bring us "Bonds on Bonds" and "Hustle", after all -- but if Irvin does get canned, credit to the network for finally realizing he adds absolutely nothing to the NFL coverage. What took so long, well, I have no idea.

Sean Salisbury might want to start updating the ol' resume; it looks like the on-air goons have been put on notice.

Answer 1

Athletes who condone or exhibit behavior the American or world public does not accept as indicative of an "athlete" are subject to censure.

Unfortunately, Americans, and the world, see athletes as "superior" to others, accepting their foibles, idiosyncrasies, misdemeanors, and felonies as "just something they do", something they are entitled to.

The athletes of the world, football players, basketball players, soccer players,tennis players, race-car drivers, jockeys, etc. must be held accountable for policing their "bad apples", just as public school teachers must be accountable for their "bad apples". Every profession can be infiltrated with a "bad seed"; but, when they are, that profession is accountable for seeing they don't reproduce.

Answer 2

It is up to ESPN to release Mike for whatever reason they feel. I read that they did not like his burgeoning movie career or opportunities to do movies, for whatever that's worth. My feelings on Mike are that he often lost credibility with me by defending TO. Mike is my favorite cowboy of all time, a very likable guy but defending TO's actions during this past season really bothered me to see. I don't hate TO as a person but as a player on my favorite team I feel like he was an issue every week and that's a disruption. ESPN did not make a spectacle of him, his words and actions did that. You don't defend a friend at all costs when they are wrong it makes you sound foolish. A part of having a friends back is telling them when they are wrong. I listened to Mike every week on the Dan Patrick show and I was often disappointed, not always but often. I also didn't like the way Dan Patrick seemed to be condescending to Mike. On Bill Parcells, I remember the last time he was on ESPN as an analyst and he seem detached and disinterested. He looked like he didn't want to be there, maybe he's interested this time, who knows. I wish Mike the best of luck in all his new endeavors, he's still my favorite cowboy.

Answer 3

personally it really doesn't matter to me, i'm sure he'll be replaced by someone just as good, don't worry dude you'll get all the football info you need.