The single most eloquent statement I've heard today in the wake of last night's election of Barack Obama came from, of all people, the former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.Irvin, who now hosts a show on ESPN Radio in Dallas, appeared on the national ESPN Radio show Mike and Mike in the Morning and said this:
"What a historical moment that was last night. ... From an African-American standpoint, I watched my people -- watched my people -- celebrate the not guilty verdict of O.J. Simpson. They were so hungry for a victory of some kind that they celebrated -- we celebrated -- the verdict of O.J. And I was thinking to myself, 'Two people are dead. Two people are dead' Now, I'm not talking about my people, I'm explaining them here. They were just so hungry to say 'We have a victory.' And I cringe when I even think about that.
"But last night I watched a celebration. A real celebration. A real celebration, and it was a celebration for everybody, and everybody celebrated, and they kept showing this shot, and I was watching, of this little black girl and this little white girl, just sitting there crying together, and I thought, wow. I thought about Martin Luther King and his 'I Have a Dream' speech, and I thought about him saying, black kids and white kids playing together. ...
"Last night we removed all differences and became just one, and I thought that was a beautiful thing. It was just a beautiful thing. I stood here with my kids, we watched it and we cried and we prayed."
Irvin had significant off-field problems during his playing days, but in the last year or so, starting with his Hall of Fame induction speech, Irvin has earned a reputation as an articulate, passionate and stirring speaker.
For those who never saw it or want to see it again, the video of Irvin's Hall of Fame speech is below.
Michael Irvin on induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
From August 4, 2007.
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