Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin sparked a lot of debates this week when he said that players who don’t get vaccinated aren’t doing everything they can to win a championship. Irvin said he’s fine with people arguing about that, but those arguments shouldn’t be political.
“Here’s what gets me. I don’t mind you coming after me. I don’t mind you say what you say. Do two things though. Don’t put me into your political discussion,” Irvin said on KRLD-FM, via the Dallas Morning News. “Oh, right wing, left wing. I don’t give a damn about that. I don’t care about the right wing, I don’t care about the left wing — I only care about a ring. Not the right wing, left wing — a ring. I don’t care about the conspiracy theorists, ‘oh they’re trying to kill us.’ If the government wanted you dead, our asses would all be dead right now. So just shut up with all of that.”
Although the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, Irvin said that even if he worried about side effects, he would have gotten the shot when he was a player because he wanted to do everything he could to win.
“My thing is, even if I had them, even if I had those fears, that there’s something here, I still am going to get vaccinated.” he said. “Because the fear don’t override my desire to win a championship.”
NFL teams with fewer vaccinated players will be at a competitive disadvantage because they will have more restrictions on team meetings and access to team facilities. Irvin is right that unvaccinated players aren’t doing everything it takes to win.
