Michael Irvin Settles Lawsuit With Marriott, Returns To NFL Network

It’s not a coincidence. The NFL would have found itself neck deep in the litigation, given that Marriott claimed it passed the complaint along to the NFL pursuant to the league’s express instructions. If the Irvin case had proceeded, the league eventually would have been asked to produce documents and potentially to make witnesses available for testimony as to what the league did or didn’t do when investigating the complaint and deciding to suspend Irvin.

This means that Irvin’s protracted suspension likely had less to do with the Personal Conduct Policy than the NFL’s desire to avoid being involved in the case between Irvin and Marriott. Which makes sense. Whatever he allegedly said to the hotel employee amounted to off-duty conduct involving someone who wasn’t a co-worker. It’s simply not the kind of thing for which an employer should discipline an employee.

And it’s the kind of standard the NFL surely didn’t want to set for other non-players, particularly owners.

The settlement will likely remain confidential. If Irvin knew he needed to settle in order to return to NFL Network, he might have taken less than he could have gotten later in the process.

Regardless, Irvin will be back on NFLN, just a couple of weeks after joining Fox and FS1, where he has quickly become a fixture on Undisputed and on the Big Noon Kickoff college football pregame show.