Irvin compares claims against him to lynching
Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin said he was sickened at being accused of misconduct by a female hotel worker in Phoenix during Super Bowl week and likened it to a lynching.
“This sickens me,” Irvin said Wednesday during a news conference in Dallas. “This sickens me because, in this great country, this takes me back to a time where a White woman would accuse a Black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in the barn, throw a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud and hang him by the tree.”
The former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver made his remarks the day after Marriott International turned over video and other materials in connection with Irvin’s $100 million lawsuit against Marriott over the alleged incident Feb. 5 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown, where Irvin was staying ahead of the Super Bowl.
Irvin has contended there was no inappropriate conduct between him and a female hotel staffer during a conversation in the lobby. But her complaint caused NFL Network and ESPN to cancel his television appearances, and Irvin responded with the lawsuit against Marriott and the woman, whose identity has been redacted.
— Cindy Boren The Jacksonville Jaguars cut high-priced cornerback Shaquill Griffin, a move that was months in the making.
Griffin, 27, tweaked his back early last season and was essentially benched before going on injured reserve. Jacksonville will save $13.1 million against the salary cap by releasing him.
AUTO RACING
Meyer Shank Racing fired the technical director for its sports car team after IMSA ruled the team manipulated tire pressure data while winning the seasonopening Rolex 24 at Daytona.
IMSA said Honda Performance Development self-reported the manipulation after the results of the January race were official.
MSR was allowed to keep the win, the trophy and its Rolex watches, but IMSA levied six substantial penalties against the team, including the indefinite suspension of “team engineer”
Ryan Mccarthy. ... Kimi Raikkonen will return to the NASCAR Cup Series, this time at Circuit of the Americas, where he scored the final win of his Formula One career in 2018. Raikkonen again will race for Trackhouse Entertainment Group in its Project 91 entry, which is designed to give a seat in NASCAR to drivers from other disciplines.
GOLF
Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the late Tom Weiskopf and the remaining founders of the LPGA Tour were among those elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The induction will be June 10, 2024, ahead of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, N.C. The six inductees — the LPGA founders were voted as one — will be the largest class since 2008.
Others elected by a 20-member panel of golf leaders, media and four Hall of Fame members were Sandra Palmer, whose 19 career wins on the LPGA Tour included two majors; three-time major champion Beverly Hanson; and former U.S. Open champion Johnny Farrell.
Harrington and Palmer are the only two living players who were elected.
MISC.
Freshmen Kori Edmondson and Emma Muchnick each scored four goals to help the 11th-ranked Maryland women’s lacrosse team rout William & Mary, 22-4, at SECU Stadium.
Eleven players scored for the Terps, who rebounded from two straight defeats — their first losing streak in nearly two years — to get back above .500. . . .
Brandon Nakashima took advantage of two double-faults by John Isner to collect the match’s only service break en route to a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 win in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Next up for Nakashima, a 21-year-old from San Diego, is 2022 U.S. Open champion and former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who is on a 14-match winning streak. . . .
USA Basketball will play a pair of games in Abu Dhabi this summer on its way to the World Cup in the Philippines.
As part of the agreement with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, the United States will bring Germany and Greece as well. The Americans will play Greece on Aug. 18 and Germany on Aug. 20; Germany and Greece will play Aug. 19.