Michael Irvin still the pride of Fort Lauderdale

It's Thursday morning, and Michael Irvin is holding court. When isn't he? He never stops talking. On air, off air. Makes no difference. The man loves to talk, and people love to listen.

A Pro Bowl practice is going on behind him, and the Hall of Fame receiver is preening like a peacock, in his NFL Network shirt, microphone wires poking from his collar, spiffy dress pants, black boots and a big hunk of diamond in his left ear. This year, the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl are in South Florida, Irvin's home turf, and boy, is he having fun.

He has plenty of stories to share. He won three Super Bowl rings and scored a pair of touchdowns in a span of 18 seconds in Super Bowl XXVII -- the fastest pair in Super Bowl history. He went to the Pro Bowl five times. Has he got stories.

He is bantering with former Cowboys teammate Deion Sanders on a makeshift TV set on the corner of the football field at Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Irvin's alma mater. The moment the camera turns off, Irvin is enveloped by well-wishers. An old teacher. An ex-coach. Ray Lewis. Former University of Miami players Rob Chudzinski and Mike Sullivan, now San Diego Chargers coaches. A school administrator with a pair of footballs to sign.

``Mi-chael! Mi-chael!'' chant some fans from the street, where they are peeking through a fence. Irvin flashes them his megawatt smile and raises his arms toward the sky in that pose that has become synonymous with his name. Everybody loves Michael in Fort Lauderdale, and he loves them back.

He could not be prouder of his Broward roots. He's like a one-man Chamber of Commerce, singing the praises of fellow Super Bowl champion receiver Isaac Bruce, a product of Fort Lauderdale Dillard, a guy second only to Jerry Rice in career yards, and a guy Irvin calls ``one of the most underappreciated players in history.''

BROWARD'S BEST
Irvin recalls the days he, Lorenzo White and Bennie and Brian Blades were toothpick-legged boys dreaming of the NFL at Holiday Park, playing for Sunrise Optimist and Western Lauderdale Lakes Optimist, meeting at the McDonald's on 31st Avenue after games.

Everyone always talked about Miami being a hotbed for football talent, but Irvin helped usher in new generations of NFL stars from north of the county line. Before Irvin's 1992 Super Bowl win, only two players with Broward ties had won rings -- Stefan Humphries (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1985 Chicago Bears) and Carlton Rose (Stranahan, 1987 Washington Redskins). Since 1992, nine Broward natives have won 14 Super Bowl rings.

In 2006, five high schools led the nation with five players apiece in the NFL. Two were in California. One in Hawaii. And two were in Broward County -- Dillard and Pompano Beach Blanche Ely.

``There is a lot of talent in both counties, but I'd have to say there is more in Broward now than there was 30 years ago,'' said George Smith, the longtime St. Thomas Aquinas coach, who considers Irvin like a son. ``Mike became a very prominent national figure, and a lot of kids around here started thinking, `Hey, if I work hard, I can do that, too.' ''

The shift in talent produced the likes of Leonard Myers (Dillard), Asante Samuel (Boyd Anderson), Tyrone Carter (Ely) and Bryant McFadden (McArthur) -- all Super Bowl winners.

``All those kids I played with at Holiday Park were great athletes,'' said Bruce, who scored the 73-yard Super Bowl-winning touchdown for the St. Louis Rams in 1999. ``Football is what we did down there, all year long. When the kids up north were inside in December, we were out there playing. South Florida kids have a certain confidence about them, an attitude I can spot a mile away. They're loud and rambunctious, and boy are they fast. Nowadays, there are as many kids like that from Broward as there are from Dade.''

QUIET CONSISTENCY
Bruce, 37 and contemplating retirement, was the rare quiet football star from South Florida. Didn't say much in high school. Didn't say much at the University of Memphis. And hasn't said much in his 16-year NFL career. Though his story is remarkably similar to Irvin's -- one of 15 siblings, father a roofer, product of Holiday Park -- most fans are unaware that his 15,208 yards ranks second only to Rice's 22,895.

Irvin and Bruce have met only once. ``I shook his hand at a Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight in Memphis,'' Bruce said. ``I introduced myself. He was very nice, but we really don't know each other.''

Nevertheless, Irvin has admired him from afar.

``He is a phenomenal receiver, one of the best ever, out of this area like me, but he has always been underappreciated,'' Irvin said. ``Nobody ever talks about him. If you asked people the top receivers from this area, his name probably wouldn't be among the first people would mention, and it should be. They always tell receivers to shut up, and if you do, like Isaac Bruce did, you don't get the credit you deserve. Marvin Harrison same thing. If you're not loud, people don't talk about you.''

A producer tries to whisk Irvin off to a car to get him to a radio show, for which he is already late. Fat chance. Irvin runs over to Vince Young, puts his arm around the quarterback, and they exchange numbers. He then stops to answer a reporter's questions. He stops in mid-sprint to say hello to St. Thomas Aquinas students who snuck out between classes.

``You guys won't realize this until after you leave, but this is the best high school in America!'' Irvin tells the students, as he signs their backpacks, book covers and shirts.

Ask Irvin how it feels to be back home, where it all began with ``Mama'' Pearl and ``Rev'' Walter and 14 siblings in that modest brick house on NW 28th Avenue, and Irvin's gregarious demeanor changes. He pauses, gets quiet, and you can almost see a slide show of his memories crossing through his now-misty eyes.

``See that bench over there?'' he says, pointing to a sideline bench covered with the Pro Bowlers' water bottles. ``That is where my coach found me crying the day my dad died. I ran here 10 miles from my house because I didn't know where else to go. I just sat there and cried and cried. It was three days before my senior season. My dad didn't get to see me play. I thought my football career was over, thought I was going to quit, get a job right away and take care of my mom.

``I look at that bench, and it takes me right back. Clear as day. Coach Smith finding me, putting his arm around me, telling me it would be OK. He became my father that day on that bench. So many memories going through my mind. From my high school days to UM to when I was in the Pro Bowl and Super Bowls. We're all here for fun, but for me, it's a reminder of all I've been through, every step of my career.''

Irvin was the 13th of 15 children born to Pearl and Walter Irvin, a roofer by day and lay preacher on weekends. The elder Irvin, from whom Michael got his height and strong forearms, traveled on weekends to preach for the Primitive Baptist Church.

The preacher had the gift of gab, yet another trait inherited by his famous son.

He was 53 when he died of lung cancer.

Michael vowed that day to reach the NFL and take care of his mother. He kept his promise, and then some.

BIG-GAME PLAYERS
As the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl, Irvin and Bruce can't help but get nostalgic. The Super Bowl does that to you.

Bruce has vivid memories of that 73-yard pass from Kurt Warner in the Georgia Dome. The Rams were tied 16-16 with the Tennessee Titans heading into the two-minute warning. The call from the huddle was a pass to Bruce to get the Rams into field-goal range.

``The play was 999-halfback-balloon, and I remember the air was still smoky from the halftime fireworks,'' Bruce recalled by telephone last week. ``The smoke was lingering, but I could see the ball clearly coming my way, and as I caught it, my eyes went to the JumboTron and I saw myself running, saw guys chasing me and when I crossed into the end zone it was a great moment, a feeling of jubilation that's hard to describe.''

As it happened, six years earlier, in that very corner of that very end zone, and on the tail end of the same route, Bruce caught his first NFL touchdown against the Falcons.

``That corner is very special to me,'' he said. ``My dad had already died and didn't get to see my Super Bowl, but he was watching me. I felt it.''
Irvin remembers walking into the Rose Bowl alongside Emmitt Smith before Super Bowl XXVII.

``I thought, a game's a game, a 20-yard in is a 20-yard in, won't be any different at a Super Bowl,'' Irvin said. ``Then we walked onto that field, and my knees got weak, and I thought, `Oh my God, this is a different game. When I crossed that goal line for my first touchdown, I remember thinking that everyone in the world was watching, and I was thinking, `I proved everyone wrong. I made it. I really made it.' ''

Asked if he watched any of the halftime show, which featured Michael Jackson, Irvin broke into a huge grin. ``Nah, there was only one Michael I cared about on that day, and that was Michael Irvin.''



(miamiherald.com)