Hall of Fame receiver and NFL Network broadcaster Michael Irvin has broken his silence and spoken publicly for the first time since he was named in a rape investigation, saying he is innocent.
Irvin told FOX 4 in Dallas that he did not assault or have any type of sexual contact with the woman in question.
“We’ve never had any kind of sexual relations in any way, in any way,” Irvin said. “I can tell you this, I can tell you this: Nothing happened. Nothing happened.”
The 27-year-old woman told police that she was drinking with Irvin at a Fort Lauderdale bar, went to a hotel room with him, remembers having to fight him off, and woke up the next morning thinking she may have been drugged and raped. Irvin said he considered the woman a friend and brought her to the hotel to make sure she had a safe place to stay because she was intoxicated.
“A lot of people think, ‘Well, Michael, were you being careless?’ I thought I was being caring, making sure all of my friends and family members got home safely, and/or just slept it off and didn’t get out in the streets driving after we had been hanging out drinking,” Irvin said.
Irvin had many well-publicized off-field problems during his playing career but insists that he has turned his life around.
“I have worked very hard to overcome some mistakes of my youth, to regain the trust of my family and friends, my community, Cowboys nation, NFL fan base, my employers, my NFL Hall of Fame teammates. I can tell you I’ve done nothing to violate that trust, nothing to violate that trust,” Irvin said.
The case is still being investigated by Fort Lauderdale police. NFL Network has had no comment on the investigation.