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Two witnesses have come forward to defend Michael Irvin from misconduct allegations made against the Hall of Fame wide receiver.
Earlier this week, Irvin was pulled by ESPN and the NFL Network during the Super Bowl after a woman accused him of misconduct.
NFL Network pulls #Cowboys Hall of Fame WR Michae Irvin from all of his Super Bowl events and appearances after a woman accused him of misconduct, according to @GehlkenNFL https://t.co/Na9N8hkzrW pic.twitter.com/XmAqlX8nkH
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 8, 2023
Irvin immediately denied any wrongdoing.
”Honestly, I’m a bit baffled with it all,” Irvin told the Dallas Morning News. “This all happened in a 45-second conversation in the lobby. When I got back after going out … I came into the lobby, and I talked to somebody. I talked to this girl. I don’t know her, and I talked to her for about 45 seconds. We shook hands. Then, I left. … That’s all I know.
”I don’t really recall that conversation, to tell you the truth. We were out drinking,” Irvin added. “It was just a friendly conversation. ‘What’s up?’ I don’t even know. … I am totally perplexed.”
On Friday, TMZ interviewed two men who claim they saw what happened between Irvin and the woman.
The first man, Phil Watkins described the interaction between Irvin and his alleged accuser as “positive” and “friendly”
“It was a positive, friendly conversation. They had a brief interaction, it was 30, 40 seconds, he kept his distance at all times, stood about a meter away from her, they ended with a handshake and he literally turned around and went to the lift,” Watkins said before being asked again if anything happened that could’ve been deemed inappropriate.”
“There was a little bit of laughter. Obviously a jovial conversation. Nothing untoward for me to actually take notice of what was going on.”
A second man, Bryn Davis, told TMZ that he was shocked to hear about the allegations after he saw Irving having a normal interaction with the woman.
“We walked back to go into the bar, [Irvin] went straight to go to his hotel room, and I guess somebody that worked there, I don’t know if it was a waitress or a bartender I guess came up and said, ‘Hey Michael Irvin.’ And he said, ‘Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Michael’ and shook her hand,” he said.
“The crazy part was it was like a 30-second interaction. It could’ve been a minute. I didn’t really think much of it ’cause it was just a fan kind of thing.”
“I felt sick when I saw it because it’s the first time I was ever, firsthand experience where something like that happened that was just fabricated. It was a totally normal conversation,”
“And the bar was relatively packed. It was a quick conversation in a crowded area. He went on his way and I never thought about it again.”
Here’s the video of the two witnesses speaking to TMZ.