Irvin files lawsuit seeking $100M
MCKINNEY, TEXAS » Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages, claiming he was falsely accused of misconduct by a female employee at a Phoenix hotel.
Irvin, 56, was pulled off the remainder of NFL Network’s Super Bowl week coverage following a complaint about his behavior in a hotel on Sunday. He has worked at the network since 2009.
The lawsuit against a “Jane Doe” and Marriott International, Inc., was filed Thursday in Collin County, Texas. Marriott International declined to comment.
In interviews this week with with Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan and the Dallas Morning News, Irvin said he had a conversation with a woman at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel that lasted between 45 seconds and one minute. Irvin said he didn’t know her and “there was no sexual wrongdoing.”
Irvin also said he initially didn’t remember the meeting because “I had a few drinks, to tell you the truth.”
The lawsuit claims a hotel manager reported “false information” to the NFL, accusing Irvin of improper behavior toward a hotel employee. Irvin was then “shockingly woken up by a crew of security” and removed from the hotel “without any explanation or questions,” the lawsuit said.
Kyle Busch returns to Xfinity
LEXINGTON, N.C. » Kyle Busch will end a one-year break and drive in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing this season.
Busch won 102 races over 362 starts in the series and continued to drop down and race in the developmental level even as he became a champion at the Cup level. NASCAR eventually restricted in 2020 the number of Xfinity races a regular Cup driver could compete in each season. Busch, who made the jump to Richard Childress Racing this season, raced just five times each of his last two seasons.
Busch is expected to compete in five races, starting with the March 4 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Favre seeks dismissal
JACKSON, MISS. » Brett Favre’s lawyers filed papers again asking a Mississippi judge to dismiss the retired NFL quarterback from a lawsuit that demands repayment of millions of dollars of welfare money intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services last year sued Favre and more than three dozen other people or businesses. The suit says money from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program was improperly spent, including on projects Favre supported: $5 million for a volleyball arena at the university where Favre’s daughter played the sport and $1.7 million toward development of a concussion treatment drug.
“It is apparent that MDHS has sued Favre, a Mississippi and national celebrity, to try to deflect responsibility for its own egregious wrongdoing in allowing tens of millions of dollars of its public funds to be misspent — funds for which MDHS itself admits it was ‘exclusively responsible,’” said the filing Friday by Favre’s lawyers, including Eric D. Herschmann of Austin, Texas.
The latest attempt to get out of the state lawsuit came a day after Favre filed three defamation lawsuits against Mississippi Auditor Shad White and two former NFL players who have sharply criticized Favre in their roles as national sportscasters — Pat McAfee and Shannon Sharpe.
Chock and Bates lead
Madison Chock and Evan Bates took the lead after the rhythm dance at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Friday as the American ice dancers seek their third title in the marquee international event.
Chock and Bates, fresh off their fourth national championship, scored 87.67 points to their program set to “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie. That was enough to edge Canadian national champs Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen, who scored 86.28 points, and Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who scored 79.04 points.
The pairs competition also began at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where world silver medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan led with 71.19 points after their short program. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada were second and Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe of the U.S. were third.
Messi, Mbappe and Benzema battle for Best Player award
ZURICH » It’s Lionel Messi vs. Kylian Mbappé again, this time for the FIFA Best Men’s Player award for 2022.
Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain and France’s superstar forward head the three-player shortlist announced by FIFA on Friday, eight weeks after leading their teams in an epic final in Qatar.
Karim Benzema completed the top three in the voting by a global panel of national team captains and coaches plus selected journalist in each of FIFA’s 211 member countries, as well as fans voting online.
In the Best Women’s Player award, Beth Mead of England, Alex Morgan of the United States and Spain’s Alexia Putellas were on the shortlist voted for by a separate global voting panel.
The winners will be announced at a Feb. 27 ceremony in Paris.