Michael Irvin to Butler: 'What the hell have you ever done?'

BipolarFuk

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The Hall of Fame wideout pulled no punches in addressing the controversial comments of Brice Butler.

Brice Butler has lost a fan in Michael Irvin.

Recently, the veteran wide receiver went on a media tour to voice his frustrations with the Dallas Cowboys en route to NFL free agency. His interviews included claims his production could have been higher than that of All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant if given the targets as well as a bottom-line ultimatum to the team itself, proclaiming they'll either name him a starter or he'll walk now that his contract is up.

It wasn't expected the Cowboys would bring Butler back to the fold anyway after three pedestrian seasons that marred brief flashes of elite potential with key drops and injuries that made him unavailable for stretches of time, but that didn't stop him from making it clear he believed he could be a franchise wideout in the NFL -- despite his career numbers saying otherwise.

The latter point is one many have pointed to after hearing what Butler had to say, and Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin is no different in that respect. He refused to bite his tongue once the comments crossed his ear-space. Ever the passionate person himself, he set out to put Butler in his place on his latest visit to 105.3FM the Fan's G-Bag Nation.

As transcribed by The Dallas Morning News:

Q: What was your first reaction to Brice Butler's comments?

Michael Irvin: Wow. You guys saw the interview where he said, "If I'm not starting, I'm not here, and I think I can do all the things better than Dez (Bryant)." I said wow. But the business is this, I guess. I guess everybody becomes a star in this league now. It doesn't really matter that you've had a few years in the league and haven't really matured and haven't really materialized and taken over the league.

Q: Thoughts on Brice Butler's opinions on the Cowboys' offense not allowing receivers to flourish?

Irvin: How can we say that? We just watched them go 13-3. I get amazed when things didn't go right, and all that went on with this season, and all that went on with [Ezekiel Elliott]. I'd rather those guys be talking now about what happened with Zeke and all of that. Now, I do get concerned from this standpoint: If Brice Butler's saying that, where's he getting it from? Brice Butler ain't man enough to get out there talking like that. He ain't being smart enough right now. Why should I offer you a whole bunch of money to come to my team when you're damning the team you just left? Who's giving him this advice? I hear a lot of that, and I think it's just frustration coming out, and he's probably perpetuating others' frustration because he's never been on that stage anyway. Why was he frustrated? You were frustrated too? What the hell have you ever done that we're supposed to throw you the ball every snap right now? I call all of that hog wash.

Q: If you were Dez Bryant, how would you handle communicating with Brice Butler?

Irvin: Dez has got to be mature about this. Nobody's going to talk about Brice Butler. If Dez picks up the phone and starts something with Brice Butler, we're making Brice Butler more famous than he needs to be. You let that ride, and you focus on what you can control, and you focus on getting better and getting ready for a season. Brice Butler's obviously talking like he won't be here... I'm not in practice every day to see him possibly beat out Terrance Williams, and not have a chance, but I talk with people, and I know what they've thought about him. I know what they've been trying to do with him. I know they've been trying to pull the real dog out of him, but if he thinks the real dog is in him, then maybe he should go somewhere else and find out.

Butler joined the Cowboys via trade with the Oakland Raiders during the outset of the 2015 season after Dez Bryant went down with injury. The hope was he'd immediately step in and provide a dynamic compliment to Terrance Williams and at times, he did just that. The issue has never been lack of ability for the five-year veteran, but rather injury issues and inconsistent production at times.

When Butler is on it's lights-out as he's a load to physically cover and a deep-threat matchup nightmare given his size and sizable catch radius. When he's off, however, things take a precipitous turn for the worse by way of key drops in some of the biggest moments of games. It's that duplicity that makes him an enigma of a player and explains why he likely never ascended to become a major weapon in the Cowboys' offense.

He was sidelined by a hamstring injury in his first year with the club that saw him active for only seven games in which he'd only start two, which more or less defeated the purpose of make the trade to acquire him in the wake of a sidelined Bryant. Still, the team saw the potential and kept him onboard for 2016 -- no doubt hoping he'd remain healthy and provide a strong presence behind Bryant and Williams outside the hashes.

He accomplished the former last season in being available for the full year including the playoffs. After delivering a valuable 219 yards receiving and three touchdowns as a complimentary piece in the regular season, he'd deliver zero yards on zero receptions including a key end zone drop against the Green Bay Packers -- helping to end the Cowboys' historic run.

His answer for why the would-be TD sailed through his hands?

"I still don't know where my hands were," he said. “Dude, I was surprised when I fell and I didn’t have that ball. I felt like I was looking it in. I guess I didn’t stick my arms out long enough.”

One year later after a failed prove-it deal, Butler stuck his foot out too far and it wound up in his mouth.

The bridge between him and the Cowboys is now essentially a pile of ashes floating downstream and that's just fine by those who see it as Irvin does, more or less daring Butler to go somewhere else and prove he can be what he's never been to either the Raiders or the Cowboys:

An actual No. 1 (or No. 2, for that matter) receiver.
 

Rev

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Yes!
 

Chocolate Lab

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"I still don't know where my hands were," he said. “Dude, I was surprised when I fell and I didn’t have that ball. I felt like I was looking it in. I guess I didn’t stick my arms out long enough.”
:dunce
 
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