Michael Irvin left ESPN’s First Take in awkward territory on Monday, and he did it with one line that instantly took over the conversation.
The former Cowboys star was fired up after Dallas’ 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals, a collapse that saw the Cowboys blow a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Arizona closed with 20 straight points, and Dallas became the NFC East team that had never lost at home after leading by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter before Sunday.
Stephen A. Smith had already taken aim at Brian Schottenheimer, criticizing the head coach for calling himself a great coach and suggesting the Cowboys should go after Rex Ryan instead.
“I promise you, with four days preparation, that man will do a better job,” Smith said. “I’d bet my check on it,” he added.
Irvin jumped right in. “That’s an easy bet, Steve.
It’s a nice bet,” he said before pushing the point even further and arguing that anyone could coach the team better. “There is no worse that you can be,” he said.
“So anybody, anybody, my dead mom can coach them better.”
Even Stephen A. was thrown off.
The comment quickly spread across social media, where fans reacted in disbelief at how far Irvin took it. “Michael Irvin said his DEAD MAMA could coach the Dallas Cowboys better than their coach.
😭😭😭 WHY would he say that?! OMG 😩,” one fan wrote alongside a clip from the show.
“I can’t believe Michael Irvin said this 😭😭,” Dov Kleiman posted as well.
Despite the ugly loss and the noise around Schottenheimer, Jerry Jones is not expected to make a coaching change this season. The defeat dropped Dallas to 3-5, and the Cowboys now turn to a Sunday trip to face the Indianapolis Colts in a game they simply shouldn’t lose.
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