....DALLAS (AP) - Image is everything for Michael Irvin, but the beating his persona has taken with a felony drug indictment could damage more than just his ego.
....The Dallas Cowboys' All-Pro receiver already has suffered a backlash from his sponsors, who pay him about $1 million annually.
....While Irvin has remained silent about his predicament, he does seem to be engaging in a sort of personal damage control.
....The same Irvin who early last week appeared before a grand jury decked out in a derby and fur coat wore a natty but conservative blue suit Monday when he heard of his indictment for possessing cocaine and marijuana.
...."If you're accused of what Michael is accused of, you don't walk up to a grand jury looking like Superfly and not expect some backlash," said Leon Simon, who co-hosts a weekly appearance by Irvin on Dallas radio station KLIF-AM.
....Irvin, 30, faces a felony cocaine charge and a misdemeanor marijuana charge stemming from a March 4 incident in an Irving motel room where police discovered the star in proximity to drugs.
Topless dancer Angela Renee Beck, 22, faces the same charges. Police arrested her at the time when she claimed ownership of the drugs.
....Another dancer, Jasmine Jennipher Nabwangu, 21, was indicted Monday on a lesser cocaine charge and a misdemeanor marijuana charge. Irvin's close friend, former teammate and business associate Alfredo Roberts, the fourth person in the room that night, was not indicted.
During the grand jury proceedings, Irvin was often seen laughing and joking in the courts building. Such demeanor annoyed some fans, although friends said it was Irvin's way of dealing with his situation.
...."Laughter sometimes helps shield the fear and down side of his emotions," said former NFL player Craig James, who has been executive producer of "The Michael Irvin Show" for five years. "But there's really a man inside under a great deal of stress. He's not in any way laughing at the system."
Still, Irvin has rubbed plenty people the wrong way, including those who write him checks.
KLIF has stopped promoting Irvin's inclusion on "The Talk Team" until program director John Shomby said he can weigh the evidence.
....Kroger Foods has declined to renew advertising on Irvin's TV show, and shoe giant Nike joined KLIF in taking a wait-and-see approach on his future role.
....A popular Toyota commercial featuring Irvin has stopped appearing in the market, but the president of the North Texas Toyota Dealers Association, David Schoemaker, said the timing coincided with the end of a national sales event.
....A new Irvin-James spot is scheduled to begin airing in about two weeks, James said. He didn't know if the commercials will be used, and Schoemaker wouldn't comment on Irvin's future representing Toyota.
....One man who had a Toyota on order at an area dealer canceled the purchase once Irvin was implicated, a source said. Southwest Airlines received numerous negative phone calls Tuesday after a newspaper report inferred the company sponsored Irvin, spokeswoman Christy Hall said.
....The airline bought time on his show and is not a personal sponsor, Hall said.
....A problem generating sponsors could mean trouble for the television show. This is the time James normally would be trying to sell ads for the show's fifth season on Dallas television station KDFW.
"At this point, I'm waiting to sit down with Michael and discuss the business aspects of the show," James said.
....If the show is offered, KDFW hasn't decided whether to again purchase it, spokeswoman Karen Cage said. But it's a "safe assumption" that the station won't be interested if Irvin is convicted, she added.
....The show, which premieres each August and runs through the season, normally would be slotted for the fall lineup some time in May, she said.
....The recent publicity hasn't been all detrimental. A spokesman for Custom Prints, a division of Lombardo Custom Apparel, said a limited run of 995 signed Irvin prints has been selling fast since his legal problems surfaced March 20.
....The company's Internet web page includes an Irvin quote that reads: "I know only one person who looks as good as Michael Irvin on the field. That's Michael Irvin off the field."
The company expects to be sold out of Irvin portraits by Friday.
....Masterpeace Ragz, the clothing line run by Irvin and Roberts, continues to supply shirts, hats and other items to local stores who intend to carry the popular merchandise.
....As for Irvin's main source of income, he's scheduled to enter the second year of a five-year, $15 million contract with the Cowboys that has already paid him $5 million as a signing bonus.
....That income isn't in jeopardy because Irvin reportedly has never failed an NFL-administered drug test and there's little chance the team would give up on him.
...."This is a matter that is in the hands of the authorities," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this week in a statement, "and we hope that it will be resolved as quickly and constructively as possible."