ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: AUSTIN, TEXAS
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE COWBOY RECEIVER will lose over $500,000 before his return on Oct.13.
Michael Irvin, who pleaded no contest last week to drug charges, was suspended by the NFL on Wednesday for the first five games of the regular season, a punishment whose severity was due in part to Irvin's prominence.
The suspension comes eight days after Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession charges for which he was fined $10,000, placed on probation for four years and sentenced to 800 hours of community service. It leaves the three-time Super Bowl champions without their top wide receiver and one of the best in the NFL for almost a third of the season.
``You serve as a highly visible symbol of the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL,'' commissioner Paul Tagliabue wrote to Irvin in a letter informing the Cowboys' star of the suspension.
``As such, you are an unusually prominent example for good and for bad for young people. While that visibility affords you substantial benefits, financial and otherwise, it significantly increases and magnifies the negative and detrimental impact of your misconduct on the league, its teams, its players and its fans.''
The five-game suspension will cost Irvin over $500,000 - he makes $102,647 a game. He will miss games with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles before becoming eligible to return on Oct.13, when the Cowboys are at home against Arizona following a bye week.
Earlier Wednesday, owner Jerry Jones had suggested that Irvin's prominence might add to the severity of the suspension. The usual suspension for such offenses is four games, the penalty given to Bam Morris, who was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this month after pleading guilty to felony possession of marijuana.
``He's a visible player on a visible franchise,'' Jones said of Irvin. ``But he does have to be alert to the consequences of his action.''
Tagliabue said much the same, both in his public announcement and his letter to Irvin.
``The discipline for violations of the substance abuse policy is severe,'' he said ``... Under this collectively bargained program, players are disciplined for their own substance abuse or drug-related misconduct. They are not disciplined for the misdeeds of others or because critics may view the justice system as lenient in drug cases or for other extraneous reasons.''
Irvin was arrested March 4 in hotel room in Irving, Texas, near the Cowboys' workout facilities at Valley Ranch after a motel employee complained about noise. Irvin and two women also in the room were indicted March 1 on drug possession charges.
Last Tuesday, Irvin interrupted the trial to enter the no contest plea.
Tagilabue's letter to Irvin, who went home to Miami instead of coming here to the Cowboys' camp, was strongly worded.
``In my judgment,'' he wrote, ``the impact of your involvement with illegal drugs ... has had an extremely adverse impact on the league, its teams and players generally.
``The length of your suspension also reflects my judgment about the need, in light of some your recent statements, to reinforce for you, the necessity of your compliance with the league's drug policy.'''
Irvin's absence will leave a major hole in the Dallas offense.
Kevin Williams, who started last season for the first time, is the only experienced wide receiver on the team. Deion Sanders, the NFL's defensive player of the year two years ago, is working out almost exclusively at wide receiver in anticipation of the suspension but he never has played the position on a regular basis.
``It's a deep relief now to know it's over,'' Sanders said. ``We can get on with business.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB