Michael Irvin

Biography

Michael Jerome Irvin is the 15th of 17 children, born to Pearl and Walter Irvin. Pearl was a full-time mom; cleaning, cooking and taking care of home while Walter worked as a roofer, during the week, from sun-up to sun-down. On the weekends, Walter would drive to Georgia, where he was the Pastor of Mt. Calvary Primitive Baptist Church. He was also called to pastor Greater Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in Ft. Myers, Florida.

During services at Mount Mary Primitive Baptist Church while Pearl was pregnant with Michael, God wrapped his arms around her womb and said, "This is the one." Michael's mother knew that this particular child was destined to be used by God.

Michael loved and admired his father, who fell gravely ill while Michael was in high school. Visiting his father in the hospital, he vowed to always take care of his mother. The very next morning, Walter was called out of time to eternity to be with God.

Pearl enlisted the assistance of George Smith, the high school football coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to help convince Michael that quitting his passion of football to fulfill his promise would do very little at this time. Coming together, they decided that if Michael stuck to his dream, he could use the power of his promise to fuel him to greatness.

From that day on, Michael would be great. He set many records at St. Thomas Aquinas High School before earning a full scholarship at the University of Miami. There, he was a record-setting wide receiver and helped lift the 1987 Hurricanes to a National Championship.

Selected as the 11th player to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1988 National Football League Draft, he quickly developed into one of the elite receivers in Cowboys and NFL history. He went on to shatter numerous Cowboys records, as well as breaking NFL records. Known as "The Triplets," Michael, alongside Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, won 3 Super Bowls during his career with the Cowboys. Voted to 5 Pro Bowls, his name was placed in the rafters for the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2005. He was voted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

After Michael's induction into the Hall of Fame, he continued to live out his promise. He has appeared in a number of movies including The Comeback and Jack and Jill. He starred alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in The Longest Yard. He hung up his cleats, put on his dancing shoes and appeared in Season 9 of the hit television series Dancing with the Stars. He got his feet wet with broadcasting by working for ESPN and receiving a Sports Emmy Award in 2006 for "Outstanding Studio Weekly Show" as a part of the Sunday NFL Countdown crew. Currently, Michael is a top analyst for the NFL Network, appearing on Thursday Night Football and Sunday mornings onNFL GameDay Morning. He is a business man and philanthropist. He loves to inspire others, so he travels all around the country speaking to millions of people doing motivational and spiritual sharing.

Michael and his wife, Sandy, have just celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary. They have four children together: Myesha (23), Chelsea (17), Michael (16) and Elijah (14).

Michael did have his struggles during his career, but in his lowest time, he would always hear the words his mother would say: "God has his hands on you baby. God has need of you. God has work for you to do." He turned back to the Church, joined the Potter's House and under the guidance of his spiritual father, Bishop T.D. Jakes, he has become one of the spiritual speakers that shares his story openly in the hopes of saving our youth. Michael does not stray away from his low times because he understands in the House of God, those are the things that God uses. As the Bible says (James 5:16), "confess thy faults one to another, pray ye one for the other and in this, we shall find healing."

Out of all things Michael has experienced, he shares that there is nothing more fulfilling than walking in God's house and sharing his stories for God's glory.