The U (Still Got Swagger)

Jones discusses allegations with Irvin
By Calvin Watkins/ESPNDallas.com

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin made his first public appearance since he was accused in a civil suit of rape. He filed a $100 million countersuit against his accuser.

Irvin worked the Hall of Fame ceremonies for the NFL Network on Saturday. He was subdued at times but also emotional, especially when former teammate, running back Emmitt Smith, was selected for induction.

"It's not about me, but that's it," Irvin told a small group of reporters before they had a chance to ask questions. Irvin said he would only talk about the Hall of Fame.

No criminal charges have been filed. The Broward State Attorney's Office is investigating the case, and a spokesman told the Miami Herald that he expects a conclusion next week. The Herald first reported the story late Thursday.

Irvin's suit, filed in Dallas County, Texas, asks for $100 million in damages for allegations filed in a lawsuit that claim Irvin raped a woman identified as "Jane Doe" at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., in 2007.

The countersuit claims that the civil suit filed by the woman caused him to be fired from his radio job.



Warren Sapp released from Fla. jail on $1,500 bond; ex-NFL star is accused of choking woman
By Associated Press

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail Sunday on $1,500 bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room.

Sapp was released at about 11 a.m. Sunday — a time the NFL Network analyst would have been helping with Super Bowl coverage.

The network has pulled Sapp off the air until it investigates the matter.

Police arrested Sapp on Saturday on one charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. An arrest affidavit says the incident happened around 5 a.m. Saturday in the former defensive tackle's hotel room at the Shore Club on Miami Beach.

The woman said she had been dating Sapp about two years. She told officers the two were partying with a large group of friends when she got tired and went to lay down.

Sapp entered hours later, pulled her out of bed and tried to get her out of the room, according to the complaint. The complaint says he yelled at the woman about men she had been hanging out with and men listed in her cell phone.

The woman told police Sapp choked her, threw her down on a couch, then picked her up by her shirt and neck and threw her down again — injuring her leg.

The victim had a swollen knee and bruises on her neck, the affidavit says. She was taken to the hospital.

Sapp told investigators he let the woman stay in his room but asked her to leave a few hours later because he was expecting company. He told police the woman fell on her leg when he tried to help her get off a couch.

In a week mostly dedicated to the coverage of Dwight Freeney's ankle injury, the proverbial show was stolen by two college football bad boys turned NFL analysts. It's nice to see that 15-20 years after their glory days at 'The U', Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp are still raping and pillaging like their at an early 90s 2 Live Crew show. The story with Sapp seems pretty clean cut. Both parties are essentially telling the same story. Sapp is just cleaning up the description. By "helping her off the couch" he might as well say he choked her and threw her down.

Irvin's situation is a bit more hairy. I have no idea whether or not he is guilty of the crime but with his track record of drugs and assault, it's hard for me to believe anything the guy says. Plus, in a civil case the onus is on Irvin to prove his innocence, unlike in a criminal case where the burden would be on the state to prove his guilt. There's probably enough circumstancial evidence to cost Irvin some money and if he is innocent I still don't have much sympathy for him. Bad things happen to people who stab teammates in the neck with scissors.

At any rate the sports world is better off now that I don't have to see these two criminals spew the same cliche crap. Maybe the can join Lamar Thomas on Miami's TV coverage.