If there was an edge to be had, Cowboys legend Michael Irvin wanted it. From doing wind sprints on the practice field until he puked to publicly confronting teammates who he felt weren’t pulling their weight, the wide receiver had an insatiable need to win. Whatever it took.
Now with the 2021 training camp about to begin and the Cowboys well below the COVID-19 vaccination threshold rate that would allow loosened restrictions for players and staff, the Hall of Famer is upset that the current crop of players are negligently throwing away a chance to gain an early edge.
“Yeah, and it should upset them,” Irvin said recently at the opening of the Dallas chapter for Merging Vets & Players, as per ESPN’s Todd Archer. “It should upset them. Dude, you’re not thinking right. You’re not thinking right… Nothing else can be more important. You’re not going to get this [a Super Bowl win] easily. Nothing else could be more important… And not being one of the [vaccinated teams] says there’s other things to a great number of people on this team that are more important than winning championships, and that makes me worried.”
Irvin was a 1988 draft pick who went 4-28 in his first two seasons with the Cowboys, but then was an integral part of the dynasty that brought three Lombardi Trophies to Dallas in a four-year span.
“Call me stupid because I try to take any little thing and turn it if you are a championship team,” Irvin added, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Clarence E. Hill Jr. “Every decision has to be made like you’re winning championships… If you’re not one of the [vaccinated] teams, are you really thinking about winning a championship?”
Under current rules, unvaccinated players are not permitted to leave the team hotel, must wear masks, and remain distanced from people inside the team facilities. Vaccinated players, however, are not required to wear masks, can eat meals with other vaccinated players, and have no limitations in the weight room.
Thirteen teams have apparently reached the 85% threshold; for them, camp will look much like it did pre-pandemic. The Cowboys are not one of those teams.
It is not known exactly how many Cowboys players are vaccinated, but the team has reportedly not reached the 85% target. Worse yet, it appears they’re not even close, with players and coaches assembling in Oxnard on Tuesday.
The Cowboys are not among teams who have reached 85% vaccinated threshold, a source informed tells @usatodaysports. Cowboys leave for training camp in 8 days. It is not expected players will have “even enough first doses to get close by next week,” source says. https://t.co/YQ5a9hLtWM
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) July 12, 2021
Like last season, a positive COVID-19 test will result in the player missing at least two games. Irvin knows that could easily be the difference between a postseason berth and missing out on the playoffs yet again.
“If I’m on a team in this situation, I’m going to make sure to ask, ‘You get vaccinated? You get vaccinated?’,” Irvin said. “Somebody in that damn locker room needs to say, ‘Hey man, we’re going to have a chance. Are you vaccinated? Let’s go through this, because this could be two weeks [with] a healthy dude missing games. And in this league, this ain’t the NBA. In this league, that could be it for you. The right person misses two weeks, that’s it. Your [expletive] is out. I’ll fight a [expletive].”
Irvin famously fought with his own teammates over some truly trivial matters. For a Cowboys team seemingly on the cusp of elite status, this fight seems like one worth taking up for someone in the 2021 locker room.
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