On Dan Patrick's radio show on Monday, ESPN analyst Michael Irvin was discussing what he sees as the great upside of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. About three and a half minutes into his appearance on the show, Irvin said Romo is a good athlete, then suggested that must mean he has an ancestor who is black. "He doesn't look like he's that type of an athlete," Irvin said of Romo. "But he is. He is, man. I don't know if some brother down in that line somewhere, I don't know who saw what or where, his great-great-great-great-grandma ran over in the 'hood or something went down."
Patrick tried to suggest to Irvin that he shouldn't go there, but Irvin was having none of it, continuing:
I don't particularly enjoy watching Irvin on ESPN, but I also don't think he's as bad a guy as he's often made out to be. His well-documented legal problems seem to be behind him, and that picture you see of Irvin at a benefit for the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis shows a side of him that most fans haven't seen."If great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn, 'Come on in here for a second,' you know, and they go out and work in the yard. You know, back in the day."
Having said all that, I'm a little surprised that we haven't heard much of anything about these comments. Although Pro Football Talk has mentioned this, a Google News search shows that no mainstream media outlet has. Given that racially insensitive remarks usually create a media feeding frenzy, doesn't that strike you as strange?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 15)
11-22-2006 @ 12:00PM
Sel4more said...
Are you kidding? Here we have a colored man who is making racial jokes, who would be in jail if it weren't for his money buying the court system and expensive lawyers and on the other hand "Kramer" is being heckled by two colored men in a crowd where you're not encouraged or allowed to do so in the setting it was in and he's being called out for it?
We gotta get back to being equal, there's no racial equality in the fact it's ok for a colored man to do it, and a white person gets ridiculed for it, NAACP and Jesse Jackson calling for apologies, etc.
Gimme a break, let's not make a big deal of either one and just try to get along and understand that in today's world or "pressures" there's going to be mistakes by everyone, WE'RE HUMANS!
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11-22-2006 @ 12:06PM
Sharon said...
I'm sorry man, but if a white guy said anything like that, he'd have his back side fired in a heart beat. The right to freedom of speech is non-existent for whites these days but everyone else can say whatever pleases them. What gives here?
Irvin is SO obnoxious as an analyst I can barely tolerate him. ESPN has dropped the ball hiring him AND KORNHEISER on MNF. What was once a grand institution doesn't even measure up to what SNF once was. Now the scene IS SNF, MNF something to be endured.
whew....feel better now that is off my chest.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:06PM
Robert Smith said...
I am a fan of Michael Irvin and believe that he was probably kidding, but he has to learn when to shut up. Don't let you brash, "in your face," I'm a competent announcer persona overwhelm you. Moreover, don't let it change who He has intended you become. Just show that you belong... Remember Zacharias Michael. He is a great athlete and is becoming a heck of an announcer, but we must not fall victim to pride nor the irresistible "you are bigger than the..." demons.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:07PM
finn said...
If a white man had said this, the NAACP would be calling for his immediate dismissal from his network.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:08PM
Chris Gove said...
I'm tired of this crap too,this is equality? Not in my book!
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11-22-2006 @ 12:11PM
Not in Irving Fan said...
I bet you ESPN won't fire this guy, any wagers? I will take all bets!!!
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11-22-2006 @ 12:13PM
John said...
I am from Dallas and Irving has always and still sticks his foot in his mouth at every turn, and the sooner ESPN releases him the better their show will be. Until then I won't watch it.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:19PM
Tony said...
Jimmy The Greek was lambasted and fired when he suggested that black atheletes were superior for their breeding and now this! If he is on T.V. anywhere next week then there is no justice. We truly live in a double standard world, makes me want to puke.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:20PM
Chris Williamson said...
I think Irvin was just kidding around, I think in some crazy way he meant what he said as a compliment to Romo. Steve Lyons did get fired during the baseball playoffs for just joking around. Michael Richards I thought was a nasty rant and he was trying to do shock comedy. Worse than people saying stupid things is the media picking up on it and running with it over and over again.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:21PM
Wayne said...
What time warp did this guy come out of. Lets educate him a little. He seems to be on the right track. I thought that most of the people who used the word COLORED to describe the skin color of a American African died along with the slinky ,the hula hoop and the yoyo. The last time that I looked there was a white coloring pencil in the crayon box, along with the black,and brown ones. That being said I agree with the comment that he made. Some comments however true they may be should be kept within certain circles and not made public,especially when you are a public figure who has been given a platform represent someones interest other than your own.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:24PM
joe dog said...
Howard Cosell, Jimmy the Greek, and Rush all got canned for racial comments, the Greek for strikingly similiar comments. It just goes to show how inequitable todays press is and the fact that a racial slur is tolerated as long as it comes from a "discriminated" person. If a "whitey" makes a comment, the press goes nuts.
Mike needs to appologize for his comments
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11-22-2006 @ 12:26PM
A. Seagraves said...
Give me a break. Society has become so "joke" conscience it is utterly ridiculous. Irvin was clearly joking with his comment. To compare what he said to what "Kramer" said is waaaaay over the top. The type of "racial" (and I use that term very lightly in this instance) joking Irvin stated has been done by practically every stand-up act I've ever seen. Only now, in this time, has it become a huge issue. If Romo or his great-great-great-great-great grandmas isn't complaining about it, neither should you.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:26PM
Jake said...
Colored? Are you seriously calling Michael Irvin "colored"? That sort of takes away from the validity of your statement. Obviously what Michael said was a joke, but it still crossed the line. However, saying a white guy must have black blood to be such a great athlete is nothing compared to openly calling a black guy a notorious racial epithet. Stereotypes can be dangerous, but Irvin’s was in jest while Michael Richard’s was serious and derogatory. Arguing that white people have lost there freedom of speech because they cannot openly deride other races is ludicrous.
After all is said and done, I agree that Irvin is a horrible commentator and usually makes no sense.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:28PM
Mike said...
I can't believe he made those comments. I will never watch ESPN again while Michael Irving is still on. I'm telling everyone to not watch while he's still there!!!
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11-22-2006 @ 12:28PM
Shannon Tompkins said...
Typical. You can't have your cake and eat it too! If a white man said something like: the reason white quarterbacks are sucessful and can remember all the plays is because they are smarter and have a history of higher education as a race... he might find himself fired... followed by some black organiztion calling him a racist& then asking for a boycot of some sort. Like a "we won't watch CBS because it stands for "colored brothers suck" ( which it doesn't) but see how it can totally get out of hand? Come on... level the playing field. The one-sided race card gets old after a while.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:33PM
Rod Williams said...
First of all what Michael Irving said and what Michael Richards said shouldn't even be brought up in the same sentence. "Kramer" was totally off his rocker. Even though Michael has no clue about the mans heritage his statements are not off base and plus, never did he once use or call Tony any racial slur. What Michael said has history to it...maybe not Tony Romo's but someones ie. Thomas Jefferson for one example.
We as a country need to let all this racism go and realize above all else we are humans. And lastly he is not a colored man as you put it, but a black man. The only people I know who use the word colored are racist.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:33PM
Steve said...
THis is discrimation. If someone would talk like that about sports figures, they would be hacked.(Jimmy the Greek. Talk about dumb. Is he showing his ancestory?
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11-22-2006 @ 12:39PM
DB said...
Are you kidding me?? When is enough enough?? First of all I agree with all of the others who have stated that such comments have cost other bradcasters, all white of course, for making similar jokes or comments. On of the biggest supporters of "colored", as the racist Michael Irvin put it, athletes was Howard Cossell (forgive me if the spelling is wrong). He was fired after making a comment about former Redskins reciever Alvin Garrett for a mistake in judgement. Secondly, where is it written that non-colored people cannot be great athletes?? I am so sick and tired of this jerk and all others who hide behind the insecurity of color. Michael Irving is nothing but, and I hate the word, a "N". I think all know what that means. ESPN, get rid of this clown!!!
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11-22-2006 @ 12:44PM
Rod Williams said...
Dude did you really just bring Jimmy The Greek into this equation. What that man suggested was black people bred with other blacks that had great physical genes, like they set out to breed with only superior beings. I do not agree with him saying that Tony must have black in him because of the things he can do on the football field, but I don't think he was serious.
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11-22-2006 @ 12:45PM
Oscar Burlison said...
I am a black man who grew up in the worst of times for a negro, but I offer now excuse for the stupidity of Michael Irvin. He is brain dead, thinks he is witty,thinks he's handsome when acutally he is ugly as sin. Doesnt' know how do dress appropriately for the show that he is on with other broadcasters. I could go on and on, but what's the use. Hopefully he is dropped soon by ESPN
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