Michael Irvin outraged by ESPN’s ‘assault’ on Rueben Bain

Credit: SportsGrid

As ESPN received criticism for its coverage of the NFL Draft, no one was more bothered than its former NFL analyst, Michael Irvin.

ESPN struggled to keep pace with the shorter first-round clock, and Mike Greenberg had a rough night, making several notable mistakes. But what really bothered Irvin was ESPN’s coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. with the 15th overall pick.

“They don’t ever stop trying to somehow, someway assault us,” Irvin ranted during a recent appearance on SportsGrid’s Outspoken with Dan Sileo. “And it was absolutely classless and uncalled for. When Rueben Bain’s name got called, this is one of the greatest moments of your life. You’re gonna look back at this tape all the time and watch that year you got drafted.

“And ESPN, these mother… when he was walking, did you see the infobar? It had his arm length. I said, ‘Are you sh*tting me? You’re supposed to have a highlight here, not a lowlight! Not something that everybody’s been talking about, that has made this man’s value fall down.”

Irvin and Sileo were famously teammates at Miami, so ESPN’s treatment of Bain may have been a little personal for them. But Bain’s arm length was a significant topic of conversation leading up to the NFL Draft, and it continued during ESPN’s coverage of the event. Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick, and Mel Kiper Jr. each spent time on Bain’s arm length while analyzing the selection. And what really seemed to bother Irvin was the fact that ESPN put Bain’s arm length in the chyron as he walked to greet commissioner Roger Goodell, adding they are the “shortest by 1st-Rd edge rusher since 2003.”