[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Thursday, June 5, 1997

Michael Irvin has real wait problem

By Frank Luksa

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - As I recall the long and turgid play, "Waiting For Godot," ensemble waited with great anticipation for the title character to appear. His coming was the subject of such intense expectation for hours before the the final curtain fell.

By which time, Godot still hadn't showed up. He never did. The meaning of the play remains a puzzle. Audiences file from theaters baffled by lack of conclusion or climax. Whatever its intent, the play leaves an after-taste of being senseless.

The Cowboys now may wonder if Michael Irvin had the title role.

Waiting for Irvin has become the official team ritual, and not for the first time. He was delayed in joining the Cowboys last season by a five-game suspension from the NFL. He missed mini-camp last month and quarterback school in progress this week to the particular annoyance of teammates Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith.

In a non-breaking development, Irvin held a news conference Wednesday at the Omni West Hotel to extend the Cowboys' waiting period. Irvin declared that he'd decided to remain undecided on when or if he'd play football again.

"I truly don't know exactly what I'm going to do," he said.

If Irvin doesn't know, I do. He'll play for the Cowboys again. Bet a genuine Dextor Clinkscale autograph on that. He has no other viable option.

Irvin said he is aware the trade request made to owner Jerry Jones in January is a dead issue. So that's out.

He is an athlete by instinct and training. Playing football is Irvin's major aptitude in life. It is all he's done since high school, the only profession he knows.

Irvin will feel compelled to play for financial motives, to support a wife and three children. Kindly put, his marketable skills outside of football are indistinct. There aren't many six-figure jobs available to a 31-year-old man on probation for felony possession of cocaine.

Irvin said indecision lay with a dwindling passion for the game. It's sometimes awkward wearing his soiled image around town, such as being booed when introduced to a Fight Night crowd. He said mental confusion and emotional drain keep him away from Valley Ranch.

"I don't have the intensity or enthusiasm for the game. I don't have a love for the game," he said. "I've always enjoyed this time of year ... but it's not in me now."

Another explanation went like this: "I didn't want to put my situation on their head."

On to another matter that arose Wednesday. Always remember those who summon news conferences have an agenda favorable to their cause. The reminder explained Irvin being flanked at a table by attorneys Royce West of Dallas and Peter Ginsberg from Washington.

Ginsberg announced that Irvin had joined teammate Erik Williams in legal action against KXAS-TV (Channel 5), investigative reporter Marty Griffin, the Dallas Police Department and perhaps an abandoned ship at sea. A non-legal mind would think this routine business to be quietly filed at the courthouse. It was, instead, played out in a staged setting and advertised Ginsberg's name coast-to-coast, although surely that wasn't a motive.

The suit returned Irvin to the legal arena and into the lineup of a litigation game. Was it really done for the purpose of collecting monetary damages in a hard-to-win suit? For leverage toward an out-of-court settlement? The exposure does Irvin no good, as it only resurrects tales and titters associated with adventures that got him into trouble.

"I think so," Irvin agreed, "but by the same token, I can't help it. I'm involved either way."

Irvin expressed remorse: "I'm paying the price for the law I broke." He looked somber and spoke in a low monotone. Those who believe him credible thought he cut a sympathetic figure. Irvin might have won more P.R. points if Ginsberg hadn't abruptly ended the session.

There's a flip side and take-your-choice to Wednesday's performance. Cynics recall news conferences spun to the subliminal effect of self-pity. The outright hostile won't buy anything from Irvin, finding his absence from the Cowboys selfish indulgence and a burden on teammates.

"I need more time to decide what I want to do," said Irvin, who also needs a calendar.

(Frank Luksa is a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Write to him at: Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, Dallas, Texas 75265.)