ESPN fires Michael Irvin, but not over rape allegations

Michael Irvin, in South Florida for Sunday's Super Bowl, was fired by ESPN-FM (103.3) on Friday morning, three days ahead of schedule.

Pete Dits, the station's general manager, said he planned to deliver the word in person when Irvin returned to the station on Monday, but news that Irvin was being sued for an alleged rape sped up the process.

"He would not have been able to do his show today anyway," Dits said. "It would have been a media circus."

Irvin's final show, as it has all week, was to have originated from the Super Bowl media center's crowded "radio row."

A South Florida woman sued Irvin on Thursday for allegedly raping her in July 2007 in a local hotel room. No criminal charges have been filed.

Dits said disappointing ratings coupled with Irvin's relatively high salary were the reasons for dropping Irvin's 2-year-old show. The rape allegation had nothing to with it, he said.

Still, Irvin filed a $100 million lawsuit in Dallas County court later Friday against his accuser, citing his firing and accusing her of "attempting to destroy the hard-earned reputation and career of a highly acclaimed sports broadcaster."

Irvin did not return calls to The Dallas Morning News or respond to text messages. Larry Friedman, his Dallas-based attorney, has maintained that Irvin is innocent of all charges. Friedman was not immediately available for comment.

Irvin, a Hall of Fame former Cowboys receiver, is from Fort Lauderdale and attended the University of Miami. He is also a television analyst for NFL Network and has been working and making appearances around his hometown for the last two weeks.

A spokesman for NFL Network said Irvin was not scheduled to work Friday but will be on the network as planned Saturday and Sunday.
Asked about Irvin at a morning news conference, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league-owned NFL Network would investigate the allegations.

"We'll obviously take it seriously, make sure we understand the facts and then take the appropriate steps," Goodell said.

The decision to drop Irvin was made earlier this week, Dits said. He said there had been discussions about finding a new role for Irvin at the station if ESPN 103.3 decided to end his weekday 11 a.m.-to-2 p.m. show. There will be no new role.

Dits confirmed that Irvin and the station signed a new contract in December but said the station held the option of canceling it after the Super Bowl.

Dits said he tried to call Irvin early Friday morning before his show was scheduled to begin. Irvin didn't answer his phone and his voice mail was full. Instead, Dits called Irvin's agent to deliver the news. Dits did reach Irvin's co-host Kevin Kiley to tell him he was fired.

Ben Rogers and Jeff Wade, who have been working evenings at the station, replaced Irvin on Friday, and their Ben and Skin Show will be his permanent replacement,

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(dallasnews.com)