Cowboys legend Michael Irvin wins over roaring Eagles fans at a Philly bar before the Home Run Derby.
This is not your grandfather’s Philadelphia.
Nearly 27 years ago, Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin lay motionless on the concrete floor at Veterans Stadium for the last time. He was taken out of the frame and the fans of the Eagles were happy watching this rival who had been leading them for more than ten years coming out with a spinal injury.
Irvin’s football career was over.
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On Sunday, Irvin was back in Philly and wearing his jersey in the local dugout without a care in the world that the fans were booing him. It’s good for business. The Playmaker is back in the City of Brotherly Love not as a pitcher, but as the writer/host of tonight’s MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby.
Is Irvin an unusual choice for a baseball event? Yes, but if you’re going to deliberately burn Philly fans, Irvin is a smart foil. You want heat.
“It was a compliment to Philly to cheer me on,” the playmaker said years ago to cheering Eagles fans after being fired in 1999. “Philly wasn’t happy about my injury. They were happy about me leaving,” he added. “Thank God he’s leaving the field, he was killing us. Thank you, maybe now we have a chance to win. You never heard one bad word about the Philadelphia crowd.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Michael Irvin was taken off the field and taken to an ambulance after being injured on a pass play in the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. Irvin was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. The Eagles won 13-10. (Tom Mihalek/AFP via Getty Images)
Irvin, 60, carried that same mindset into McGillins Olde Ale House in Center City Philly.
“Eagles fans know they’re tough when they see it,” wrote one fan on Instagram of the Pro Football Hall of Famer going in and taking it.
“I love it. As a 45-year-old Philadelphian. I love seeing this 2 act of Michael Irving. Keep inspiring. Even though you heard the boos, I know you can feel the respect and love,” another fan wrote.
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However, at the end of the day, these fans were really happy when it appeared that Irvin might have suffered a life-changing injury during that 1999 season. Through it all, Irvin didn’t focus on the actions of Eagles fans.
Michael Irvin speaks to fans before the College Football Playoff between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes in Miami, Fla. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
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“I miss my dad, and a lot of those fans are like my dad,” Irvin recalled in 2013. “It’s the only place and time where their opinion matters, the only way they can express their disappointment, and I can’t have a problem with that.”
PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 4: Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin (2nd L) celebrates his first touchdown of the game with teammate Alvin Harper as Philadelphia Eagles’ Bill Romanowski (R) and Michael Zordich head into the first quarter at Veterans Stadium December 04. (KEY COLOR Eagles uniforms are green) (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
And, now, it seems that the feelings are the same. We’ve all lived long enough for Eagles fans to have a soft spot for their hated enemy.
