Monday, August 17, 1998

An open letter to Michael Irvin

By Candy Reagan

Dear Michael Irvin,

Please do me and other Dallas Cowboys fans a favor -- stop doing things to hurt the team and start doing something to help it.

By now it's pretty obvious that you are responsible for the deep cut and stitches that free agent Everett McIver suffered. Hey man, the offensive line isn't good enough to have its new members injured off the field by our own players.

Whose side are you on anyway?

And the physical injury is only a small part of the harm you have brought to the Cowboys. You've also caused another major distraction -- which is exactly what the Cowboys did not need.

This makes three years in a row that you've upset the preseason with off-the-field problems. First, it was drugs, women, a trial and a subsequent five-game suspension. Then it was your talk of retirement. Now this.

Hey, I'm sick of it. If you caught passes as well as you dodge the media's non-football questions, the Cowboys would be on their way to the playoffs. If you spent as much time in the endzone as you do in the courthouse, we'd be headed to the Super Bowl.

You appear more likely to go to jail then to the Pro Bowl.

Do us all a favor and either shape up or ship out.

Think I'm being too hard on you? Tired of the media giving you a hard time and asking questions that don't pertain to football? Think it's none of my business?

Well think again.

I was a Cowboys fan long before you ever donned the silver and blue, and I'll be a fan long after you're gone. And thousands of other fans were following the Cowboys long before I started. We love this team.

We're the ones who are tired. We're tired of hearing the jokes around the water cooler. We're tired of hearing the media talk about the Bad 'Boys. We're sick of the negative reputation the team has acquired thanks mostly to you.

That's not what this team is about. That's not the image Tom Landry and Roger Staubach worked years to develop.

I stuck by this team through a lot of lean years, but I was more proud of the athletes when they were 1-15, then I am of you now. Frankly, you're an embarrassment.

Hey man, we don't get paid the big bucks. You do. If you want to be a Cowboy then you have a responsibility to the team and its fans -- on and off the field.

Sure, you can point fingers at other people -- Leon Lett, Eric Williams, Barry Switzer, even Jerry Jones. Jones' talk of cleaning up the Cowboy image is worthless because he hasn't backed it up with actions. He should have kicked your butt off the team long ago.

But he's concerned only with money. We have something more important at stake -- our pride.

We want to win on and off the field, and frankly, you're not helping us do either one.

Not only are fans getting sick of your actions, but I know Troy Aikman is and I'm betting other players are, too. Eventually, even Jones will understand you aren't worth the money.

Continuing your destructive behavior and taking the Cowboys down with you is not an option. That leaves you two other choices.

You can put your tail between your legs and slink off in shame to some other team where you might possibly avoid the press. Or you can hold your head up high, clean up your act, learn to control yourself, and make up for past mistakes with a Pro Bowl year.

What's it going to be?

Candy Reagan, a local free-lance writer and avid sports fan, writes a weekly sports column commenting on sports happenings. You may contact her by e-mail at reagan@camalott.com.