Michael Irvin Madden Career 1992-2000 - Peak 99 OVR

Michael Irvin was born on March 5, 1966 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, played at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys 11th overall in 1988. He led the NFL with 1,523 receiving yards in 1991 and was named first-team All-Pro, the first of five straight Pro Bowl seasons through 1995. Dallas won Super Bowl XXVII after the 1992 season, a year Madden NFL 93 put him at a calculated 92.

The Cowboys repeated in Super Bowl XXVIII, and Madden NFL 94 listed him at a calculated 99 for the 1993 season. In 1995 he caught 111 passes for 1,603 yards with eleven 100-yard games, and Dallas won Super Bowl XXX. He pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession in July 1996 and was suspended for the first five games of that season. Madden NFL 97 rated him 88 for 1996, when he played eleven games.

He passed 1,000 receiving yards again in 1998, a season Madden NFL 99 graded at a calculated 97. On October 10, 1999 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Irvin was hit by Bobby Taylor and Tim Hauck after a short catch and left the field on a stretcher. Doctors diagnosed cervical spinal stenosis. He never played again and announced his retirement on July 11, 2000 with 750 receptions for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.