Jimmy Johnson to talk about Irvin's scissor attack on Dan Patrick show

[WoodysGirl]

JIMMY JOHNSON TO TALK ABOUT IRVIN’S SCISSORS ATTACK

Posted by Mike Florio on September 25, 2008, 8:53 a.m.

We’ve heard through the grapevine that former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson will appear on today’s Dan Patrick Show to talk about various topics, including the alleged scissors-to-the-neck incident from 1998 between Michael Irvin and Everett McIver.

“There, dangling in his right hand, was a pair of silver scissors, bits of shredded brown skin coating the tips,” writes Jeff Pearlman in his new book, Boys Will Be Boys. “There, clutching his own throat, was Everett McIver, a 6-foot, 5-inch, 318-pound hulk of a man, blood oozing from the 2-inch gash in his neck. There, standing to the side, were teammates Erik Williams, Leon Lett and Kevin Smith, slack-jawed at what they had just seen.”

It’ll be interesting to hear what Johnson has to say about the incident, given that he was coaching in Miami at the time.

We also wonder whether Dan will ask Johnson about some of Charles Haley’s colorful, um, habits.

 

[CATCH17]

I gotta read this book and TO's new health book.

I may actually have to step foot in a library. ugghh

 

[dmq]

Everett McIver is a name I haven't heard in a long while.

 

[Don Corleone]

Unless Jimmy was in the room (which he obviously wasn't), he is going by what he heard, which is probably no different than what is in the book. I'm not sure what new information would be revealed.

The truth is that Irvin was a tremendous talent on the field, but a first class knucklehead off the field.

 

[QT]

I still remember this like it was the other day.

 

[jcblanco22]

I wonder what qualifies Jimmy to speak about it? He knew and coached both players sure, but was not coaching the Cowboys at the time. I wonder if Pearlman asked Gailey about it and I wonder what Gailey was thinking he'd gotten himself into when this happened just days into his first training camp as coach!

 

[Chief]

I wonder what qualifies Jimmy to speak about it? He knew and coached both players sure, but was not coaching the Cowboys at the time. I wonder if Pearlman asked Gailey about it and I wonder what Gailey was thinking he'd gotten himself into when this happened just days into his first training camp as coach!

Exactly. Makes no sense.

But then this is Dan Patrick.

 

[Don Corleone]

I wonder what qualifies Jimmy to speak about it? He knew and coached both players sure, but was not coaching the Cowboys at the time. I wonder if Pearlman asked Gailey about it and I wonder what Gailey was thinking he'd gotten himself into when this happened just days into his first training camp as coach!

Only thing I can think of is that he and Irvin maintained contact when he was coaching in Miami, and they talked about the incident.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I'm sure the interview is about the book as a whole, not just that incident.

I've always thought this was one of the most bizarre stories in the history of sports, and yet no one seems to talk about it. We've heard of teammates fighting, but has there ever been an instance of attempted murder between teammates? Irvin talked about it himself on KTCK. He and Erik Williams went out and got drunk after a morning practice. They got back to the dorm where the Cowboys were staying and went to the room where everyone was getting haircuts. Irvin tried to bump to the front of the line ahead of McIver, and McIver bowed up to him because he didn't want to be punked by a WR in front of Big E, who was sorta the alpha male of the OL. Irvin went balistic and stabbed him in the neck with scissors.

But to me part of the most fascinating parts of the story is the cover up ... because Irvin was on legal suspension and could have faced years in prison. Jerry had a "private meeting" with McIver, and McIver decided not to press charges and called it "horseplay". And poor Chan Gailey, this honest God-fearin' man, has to deal with this stuff in his very first weeks on the job stand in front of the media and dodge bullets. He had to be wondering "What the heck did I just get myself into?"


We haven't heard from McIver since to get his side of the story. I think he's either living on his own private island somewhere with Jerry's hush money, or swimming with the fishes on the bottom of a lake somewhere in Arkansas.

 

[Chief]

This is a New York Times blurb from 1998, so there was speculation even back then that he was paid off ....


In his first public comments since reports that he had suffered a cut on his neck from a teammate, the Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Everett McIver denied today having been paid -- or even having been asked -- to remain silent about the injury. He did not say whether wide receiver Michael Irvin was involved.

''I have not received any payments, from anyone, in return for my silence as has been inaccurately alleged,'' McIver said in a statement released through the team today. ''I have not been asked to withhold any information or testimony or to misrepresent any of the facts.''

 

[Don Corleone]

I've always thought this was one of the most bizarre stories in the history of sports, and yet no one seems to talk about it. We've heard of teammates fighting, but has there ever been an instance of attempted murder between teammates? Irvin talked about it himself on KTCK. He and Erik Williams went out and got drunk after a morning practice. They got back to the dorm where the Cowboys were staying and went to the room where everyone was getting haircuts. Irvin tried to bump to the front of the line ahead of McIver, and McIver bowed up to him because he didn't want to be punked by a WR in front of Big E, who was sorta the alpha male of the OL. Irvin went balistic and stabbed him in the neck with scissors.

But to me part of the most fascinating parts of the story is the cover up ... because Irvin was on legal suspension and could have faced years in prison. Jerry had a "private meeting" with McIver, and McIver decided not to press charges and called it "horseplay". And poor Chan Gailey, this honest God-fearin' man, has to deal with this stuff in his very first weeks on the job stand in front of the media and dodge bullets. He had to be wondering "What the heck did I just get myself into?"


We haven't heard from McIver since to get his side of the story. I think he's either living on his own private island somewhere with Jerry's hush money, or swimming with the fishes on the bottom of a lake somewhere in Arkansas.

I didn't know Irvin was drunk. How the heck does that happen during training camp? You would think they would be running a tighter ship, even back then. To me, that is an indictment of Gailey and the Cowboys organization. Do you think Parcells would allow players to get drunk after morning practices?

If I were in McIver's shoes, I wouldn't have accepted hush money, and would have pressed charges against Irvin and the Cowboys. This would mean that the other NFL teams would blackball him, but who cares if the price is right?

 

[Chief]

I didn't know Irvin was drunk. How the heck does that happen during training camp? You would think they would be running a tighter ship, even back then. To me, that is an indictment of Gailey and the Cowboys organization. Do you think Parcells would allow players to get drunk after morning practices?

I don't fault Gailey at all.

This type of behavior was well established during the Switzer years before Gailey got there. Things were out of control.

And players getting drunk during training camp is pretty common, I'm sure. The attempted murder thing, though, isn't that common.

 

[Don Corleone]

I don't fault Gailey at all.

This type of behavior was well established during the Switzer years before Gailey got there. Things were out of control.

And players getting drunk during training camp is pretty common, I'm sure. The attempted murder thing, though, isn't that common.

I guess this explains why Parcells liked wind sprints in training camp. If players have chosen to drink between practices, they'll puke their guts out during the sprints.

 

[Idgit]

''I have not received any payments, from anyone, in return for my silence as has been inaccurately alleged,'' McIver said in a statement released through the team today. ''I have not been asked to withhold any information or testimony or to misrepresent any of the facts.''

I can almost see McIver's lips moving as he said those words.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I don't fault Gailey at all.

This type of behavior was well established during the Switzer years before Gailey got there. Things were out of control.

And players getting drunk during training camp is pretty common, I'm sure. The attempted murder thing, though, isn't that common.

Switzer was typically more drunk than the players.

Here's an excerpt from the book....

When the Cowboys prepared for Super Bowl XXVII three years earlier, they practiced with an intensity that Jimmy Johnson and his crew demanded. This time around members of the team came and went as they pleased, working out with half-hearted determination. In what was undoubtedly a Super Bowl first, Nate Newton, Erik Williams, Leon Lett and Irvin took a stretch Lincoln to and from practices. The players stayed out early into mornings and arrived to work hungover following wild sojourns to clubs like Empire and Jetz & Stixx. "The police came in and gave us a list of places not to go," Newton said. "I wrote 'em all down and went there."

The Cowboy who partied the hardest, the longest, the latest was not Irvin or Sanders or Newton or Lett but Barry Switzer, 58-year-old night owl. The Cowboy coach transformed his two-bedroom suite into a 24-hour rave, with an endless stream of family members, friends, confidants and strangers. "You have to understand the scene," says Michael Silver, the former Sports Illustrated scribe who spent much of the week alongside Switzer. "Barry basically decided, 'OK, this is the only time I'll ever be at a Super Bowl and I'm going to live it up.' So he called everyone he knew and said, 'C'mon, we're all going to the Super Bowl!'" Along for the ride were—among others—Switzer's three children, his girlfriend Becky Buwick, his ex-wife Kay (the two women shared a room) and a never-ending conga line of former Oklahoma players, coaches and boosters. The end-of-the-week liquor bill exceeded $100,000.


On the night following the team's arrival in Tempe, Switzer and a slew of assistant coaches and players attended a Super Bowl party beneath an enormous outdoor tent. Switzer and Larry Lacewell, the Cowboys' director of pro and college scouting (and the man whose wife Switzer once slept with), downed shots until both were stumbling around like kangaroos atop surfboards. Silver was minding his own business when he turned and spotted Switzer furiously kicking with his right foot. "What the **** are you doing?" Silver asked. Upon stepping closer, Silver saw that Switzer was actually booting Lacewell, who was trying to urinate beneath a wood deck. "Barry was getting Larry to piss all over himself," says Silver. "Urine everywhere." Done harassing his friend, Switzer stumbled to the dance floor and began hyperactively shaking his body—a la Pee Wee Herman. Nearby Emmitt Smith was grooving the night away, showing off the moves that, a decade later, would make him a champion on Dancing With the Stars, when he caught a glimpse of Switzer. "Emmitt can't believe what he's seeing," says Silver. "He just stops and stares at Switzer, and his jaw drops. He just gets this look on his face that I can only describe as 'Oh my God, my coach is ****ing crazy!'"

Switzer's week was one uproarious blur—a little bit of football (Steelers? What Steelers?) mixed in with a whole lot of debauchery. On the night of Friday, January 26, less than 48 hours before kickoff, Switzer hosted his dream party in Suite 4000 at The Buttes—his suite. With his son Greg, a trained classical pianist, jamming away on the room's black Steinway, Switzer led an obnoxious, infectious, inebriated sing-along of Ray Charles' What'd I Say. Instead of repeating Charles' lyrics, however, Switzer and Co. filled in their own words—praising Jerry Jones, mocking Jimmy Johnson.

Tell your mama, tell your pa
I'm gonna send Jimmy back to Arkansas
Oh yes, ma'm, Jimmy don't do right, don't do right
Aw, play it boy
When you see him in misery
Cause Jimmy ****in' sucks on TV
Now yeah, all right, all right, aw play it, boy

"I didn't know if we'd win or lose the Super Bowl," says Switzer. "But I knew I was gonna have one helluva week. You don't reach the heights and then play it down. You make the moments memorable."

http://********.com/5051649/excerpt-boys-will-be-boys-by-jeff-pearlman

 

[SkinsHokieFan]

I just read the book in one day. Bought it yesterday, finished yesterday

Everyone on this board must read it. Some great moments for the Cowboys, colorful moments, and a lot of "***" and "how in the hell did they win 3 Superbowls" moments for me

In particular the one against Pittsburgh. Talk about walking through a game, but considering the week the Cowboys just had in Tempe, that was no surprise

 

[Chocolate Lab]

This is a New York Times blurb from 1998, so there was speculation even back then that he was paid off ....


In his first public comments since reports that he had suffered a cut on his neck from a teammate, the Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Everett McIver denied today having been paid -- or even having been asked -- to remain silent about the injury. He did not say whether wide receiver Michael Irvin was involved.

''I have not received any payments, from anyone, in return for my silence as has been inaccurately alleged,'' McIver said in a statement released through the team today. ''I have not been asked to withhold any information or testimony or to misrepresent any of the facts.''

I was in Wichita Falls at the time and remember it well. I wonder how much money Jerry spent on hush money that week, because besides McIver, Jerry surely had to pay off the Midwestern police department. I remember several people saying that they knew what happened, but they never said.

What a sordid affair. It's another reason I can't stand Irvin. What kind of degenerate almost kills a teammates with scissors over a freaking haircut?

 

[Chief]

Silver saw that Switzer was actually booting Lacewell, who was trying to urinate beneath a wood deck. "Barry was getting Larry to piss all over himself," says Silver. "Urine everywhere."

My goodness.

When you read stuff like this, it's not that difficult to see why the franchise went into a tailspin from 1996 on. This is the environment that Jerry cultivated after Jimmy left, the one that Chan Gailey inherited and the one that Parcells had to help clean up.

 

[RainMan]

My goodness.

When you read stuff like this, it's not that difficult to see why the franchise went into a tailspin from 1996 on. This is the environment that Jerry cultivated after Jimmy left, the one that Chan Gailey inherited and the one that Parcells had to help clean up.

The part about Switzer sleeping with Lacewell's wife was news to me. What a fricked up organization we were.

 

[demirji22]

Any recap on what jimmy said???