NFL Network will be without one of its biggest playmakers this weekend.
Michael Irvin has become synonymous with NFL analysis, with the former Cowboys wide receiver and Hall of Famer a stalwart on NFL Network's coverage since 2009. Fans tuning in to the 2023 NFL Draft won't see Irvin, though.
Irvin has been suspended by NFL Network and will remain off the air through this weekend's broadcast as part of an ongoing dispute with a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct in the week leading up to Super Bowl 57. That led his employer to pull him from coverage of Chiefs vs. Eagles.
Irvin has maintained both his innocence and that the conversation was "friendly" — but NFL Network has kept him suspended as the dispute has dragged on over the months.
Irvin weighed in on watching from the sidelines in the hours leading up to the draft.
"This is different. It’s hard watching the red carpet of the @NFL draft. Even more so than the #Super #Bowl!! The Super Bowl is a congratulatory moment at the end of a long season. The draft is the Genesis of a young man’s dream, his career and his journey. My heart," Irvin tweeted.
The Marriott hotel chain has gotten involved in the situation. In its filing the hotel claims that Irvin was "visibly intoxicated" when speaking to the woman, and made several sexually explicit comments towards her. Irvin reportedly also attempted to grab the woman's hand, which prompted her to move away.
"The allegations are nonsense, and we immediately need to get Michael back to work, and we need Renaissance to apologize to him," Irvin's lawyer Levi McCathern said in March.
Irvin has gone on the offensive in his defense, likening the situation to a lynching.
Irvin filed a $100 million lawsuit against the hotel and the woman (an employee of the hotel) for defamation, with the case moving from Texas to Arizona in March. Irvin's team also released surveillance video of the incident as a means to clear his name.
Regardless of how the lawsuit turns out, Irvin won't be around for the NFL Network's coverage this weekend — and, probably, not for a long time after that.