Tuesday, July 16, 1996

Irvin Teammates: 'Glad It's Over'

By MIKE DRAGO
Associated Press

(July 16, 1996)

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Michael Irvin's teammates said Monday they're glad the drug scandal swirling around the wide receiver is ending and expressed hope the troubled Cowboy can put his personal life back together.

Irvin pleaded no contest to second-degree felony cocaine possession Monday in exchange for four years' deferred adjudication and a $10,000 fine.

If state District Judge Manny Alvarez accepts the arrangement during formal sentencing Tuesday, Irvin plans to report to Cowboys training camp as it opens Wednesday in Austin.

It's not yet clear if the NFL will take action against Irvin under the league's substance-abuse policy. Regardless, several Cowboys said Monday they're glad the three-month ordeal is near an end.

"It's something we'll still have to live with, but we won't have to think about it constantly like we do now," center Ray Donaldson said at the team's Valley Ranch headquarters. "Now we can start focusing on the Super Bowl and winning another one."

The Cowboys would have been distracted in Austin if the trial, already in its fourth week, had dragged on much longer, Donaldson said.

"When we're trying to get ready for football, we don't need any kind of legal problems," he said. "It's good that it's over with."

Since the March 4 drug bust, the defending NFL champs have done little else but answer questions about Irvin and any effect his absence would have on the team. That's when police raided a motel room and found Irvin, former Cowboys tight end Alfredo Roberts and a pair of topless dancers along with marijuana and cocaine.

Fullback Daryl Johnston said the trial appeared to have taken its toll on Irvin when the two spoke on Sunday. On Monday, Irvin looked sullen and worn out.

"You could see it in his face. He looked thin, he looked tired," Johnston said. "Maybe this is the best thing for him because it will give him some closure now. He can get on with his life."

Quarterback Troy Aikman, the only teammate who attended the trial, said he's glad Irvin will be catching passes at training camp, but that's not his primary concern.

"I was looking at it more from the standpoint of how it affected Michael," Aikman said.
"I've never looked at it as the impact on our football team. I think that's pretty shallow of an individual to even think about that ... Am I glad he'll be playing with us this year? You bet. But I'm more concerned about other things."

Running back Herschel Walker, who rejoined the Cowboys last week as a free agent, echoed Aikman's sentiment that Irvin's personal tragedy is more important than football.

"These are human beings," Walker said. "We have feelings and emotions like everyone else, and things do bother you like everyone else. It's not like just because you're paid a lot of money you ... don't care. That's not true."

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