Michael Irvin - Will his latest issue result in any action?

As you undoubtedly all know by now, former Dallas Cowboys WR and current ESPN analyst Michael Irvin was arrested on Sunday and was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after police searched his vehicle during a traffic stop. This is not the first drug-related offense for Irvin, who has gone to great efforts to try to clean up his image after a number of drug-related events in his recent past (including a no-contest plea to felony cocaine possession in 1996).

Irvin says, convincingly in my opinion, that the drug paraphenelia was not his, but belonged to a friend who he is trying to "clean up." However, given his checkered past, his credibility has been questioned.

The ramifications of this offense are unclear at the moment. Legally, he is only going to have to pay a fine, which, for someone of his financial means, is a non-issue. However, will this affect his ESPN career or his Hall of Fame credentials?

I would assume (hope) that ESPN inserted a very broad morals clause in Irvin's contract such that even a minor drug infraction such as this would allow ESPN to terminate its contract with Irvin. However, so far, ESPN seems to be standing by Irvin. Although I did not watch last night, I was inforrmed that Irvin did appear on Monday Night Countdown. I am interested to hear whether he addressed this issue at all.

With respect to the Hall of Fame, Irvin is a semi-finalist for this year's class (he was a finalist last year but was not chosen). Will this latest offense cause him to go no further than the semis?

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