Michael Irvin on Cowboys' Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, importance of Ezekiel Elliott

Hall of Famer Michael Irvin is our guest tonight back in a familiar Studio great to have Michael back we're going to talk a lot of cowboys of course but we want to remind folks that your new restaurant Playmakers 888 is open in the colony near grandscape up there you've been open for a little while now how's it going it's going great it really is and and everybody's come by the fans everybody's been great Mike when you said that you're right I used to shoot the old Michael Irving Showdown here at Chanel 4 when I when I was playing oh my God walking in this building is always fun but but being around Cowboy fans I tell people I've always been on conflicts on Sundays either beating up somebody on the football team on another football team or defending our Cowboys in studio somewhere since 1988 so now I get to have a little fun with some people like that that are rooting for my team tell us about the restaurant restaurant and Sports Lounge what kind of makes it different well you know first of all this the we're this is the Dallas Cowboys we are in the Dallas Cowboys business make no mistake about it that's what I told everybody on that that that works for me at the restaurant because and then I put the Ring of Honor up you know so when you come in and it's the part that I love I love when I see families come in and moms and dads sit down and they're pointing up and and you know and teaching the kids who the Dallas Cowboys are now all I did was give them a visual that's that's when they used to actually win Super Bowls Jimmy all the way back then and that's how important it is since they are not doing that right now we have to show these this they used to win Super Bowls we'll be back there one day Jimmy just not right now hopefully this year hopefully this year Playmakers 88.com for more information on the uh on the new restaurant preseason schedule is over now for the Cowboys Oxnard portion of Camp is over uh are you disappointed that the deal with CD lamb hasn't gotten done yet not not I am disappointed but I understand business and I know that deal will get done there's a lot of things involved in that and I just want to say this too also on Jerry's side I know people get on Jerry if I wondered if Jerry just gave that contract up to CD lamb which he certainly deserves and certainly has earned he also worries about how many other people come knock on that door if he does it so easily so I think this is all part of the game that you have to play and before that slipper Falls are right win that super falls off Cinderella they'll get a deal done I mean what's lamb missing though when you look you know I was out of camp for quite a while you know what it how important it is to kind of develop some things in in training camp he's missed a lot he's missed a lot he's missed a lot and and I went one year and and battled with Jerry in a contract situation right up to the Wednesday before the season started now we ultimately won a Super Bowl That season but but but and I say this too the one thing I don't worry about with CD is all 88s stay in great shape no matter what any one of us look at Drew look at Dez you know all of us still stay in great shape that was the Hallmark of all of our careers so I know he will be in shape it's just the rhythm and the vibing with the players the part I hate right now is and I wore the color to mess with it a little bit you know all we are talking about around here is money when I saw Travis Kelsey the first thing he talked to me about wasn't anything about money even though he just got some more money he was talking to me about the opportunity to threee we got to get conversations back towards winning championships Money Follows that stuff I'm just tired of talking about the color I'm wearing which is green that's why I wore the green so hopefully we can stop talking about money so you think there's too much of that type of conversation with within the Cowboys the locker room well well it's impossible not to be when all you he and all you see is conversations about money every time you turn on the TV that's what it is that's what it says all dak's contract CD Lamb's contract Michael Parson's contract upcoming this is part of the attack on the Cowboy fan base in on the Cowboys football club and football team that I hope they can sniff out and say wow I see what they're trying to do they keeping us departed apart and and and distracted you mentioned M Parsons He talked at Camp last week about kind of taking on a new leadership role do you think that's necessary for him to change his attitude in that way well leadership is always necessary you know and I'm learning that yeah even in rest matter what leadership is always necessary and and and we grow as we as we go in all areas Mike we watch Michael Parsons do such incredible things on on the football field we think off the football field his leadership should be tant out to what we see on the football field but it doesn't grow like that doesn't work like that that's why I tell young guys like that you know you can have quick success in your profession but not be right where you need to be in your person those things have to work out and I think hearing what Michael Parson says shows you he's always had great success in what he does but now he's growing as a leader that's a good thing and I go falling in that trap of talking about money but Dak doesn't have his deal extended yet either is he the guy who can lead this team to a championship in your opinion I hope you hope you know no no no no no no no let me finish that was what they call a strategic pause to make you draw in for a moment I hope and then wait and everybody draws in I hope people now back the hell up that's what I said you've seen what you needed to see you seen enough of what we have behind him we've seen enough to know now stop playing Dak Prescott is our best chance to win a Super Bowl I know all these shows out here they love the F they like to talk about it because we put eye Gates on their TV but the reality is Cowboy fans stop falling for that Dak Prescott is our best chance to get a Super Bowl now I hope that this team understands that also and make sure they get behind him and and and believe in him before we go to break here and much more with Michael Irving coming up you of course on a team with the the greatest running back statistically in the history of the National Football League and EMT Smith now there are concerns I think justifiably about this running game even though the NFL's different now than it was great seg but let me let me just stop you right there Mike because I think that's important right there when we were just talking about Dak press Scott Now to turn to the running game and start talking about uh why and how important it was to get Ezekiel Elliot back here I'm going to give you this right fast you saw what we saw in that playoff game you saw what we saw in that playoff game that missed CD early and it seemed like they had a discourse they you know they didn't want to get together and talk so so so having Ezekiel Elliot back when I tell people he's so important for the protection of Dak Prescott we always think we're talking about oh here comes some blitzes here comes some rushes and he steps up and protect Dak Prescott no he protects him all the way around he's his protection in the locker room he's the one in the football field coz Zeke Elliot has a great deal of respect in that locker room and it gives Dak more help controlling and leading that football team yes he's our Hammer but he's also a hammer at as a leader and we need that for protection of Dak more than everything we continue with more with the playmaker Michael Irving right after this we're back with Michael Irvin Playmakers 88 is Michael's new restaurant run and Lounge open it in the colony Playmakers 88.com for more information there you're obviously very close to Jerry Jones and have been for a long time and you referenced Jerry in in the last segment you know talking about how he's trying to handle these contracts and I guess it's it's a difficult question to answer but in the scheme of things is Jerry still more of a positive than he is a negative to the football operation here because the fact is he's the one constant for the 26 years that of this playoff uh Championship drought yeah he he is the one constant and he's going to be the constant now because he is the the owner you know what I mean he he's the owner he's not going anywhere he's not going anywhere and and and there's a lot of things you can look at and say yeah we fallen short in in those playoff games but we've had success and opportunities to get to those playoff games and those few times you get in those playoff situations you got to step up and make the plays I don't see in any of those situ situations where we lost those games that we can say h that that was Jerry's fault you know what I mean I don't see what we can see that his job is to put players on the field that can get to that point he got them to that point I don't see what we can point to those got lost against San Francisco or that loss against Green Bay and said that was Jerry Jones's fault right there that's all I'm saying I understand the owner and he has all the money and everybody wants to be mad at him all the time if everything does work out but in those games when the game was on the line where was Jerry he had nothing to do with that that's all I'm saying everybody that's all I'm saying you know what I mean and and and I don't want to put words in your mouth here but just kind of sensing what you might have been saying in that last segment about being concerned about certain things is there a problem with the cohesiveness of this of this group well that that's actually omatic in this sense football is a job that requires you to improve not it's not like most jobs where you're punching computer and all you have to do is is improve your skill to get ahead in life since this man man a hand hand comeb back it requires you to improve your skill but at the same time deepening your will since I'm going against another grown man and not a computer and as a team we're going against another grown man full of Team a grown a whole team full of grown men and and so we got skill and will we're losing playoff games not because of of Jerry Jones because of those Collective wheels are not together you ask about how are they as a football team to this day imro and I have never had a discourse to this day to this day because we were focused on the same thing and that's winning a championship I think there's reasons the question if all of those guys are focused on the same thing and that's winning a championship that's the level of will I'm talking about that it would need to take Mike McCarthy enters his last contract year as well here's one way out of left field for you you think there's any part of Jerry Jones who'd like to see Deion Sanders as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys I don't know about him I know about me you know what's the answer for you well God well I I love Dion I love Dion I love him that's one of my best friends ever I call him my little big brother because he's that direct and that organized I think Dion is going to have great success whatever he touches his hands on whatever he places his fingers upon like a mest touch everything's going to turn to Gold that's one of his favor cover favorite colors as a matter of fact so yeah yeah I I I would love to see Dion come in here now with all that Dion brings is Jerry ready to take n not not a back seat that would be a back seat you know what I'm saying because Dion brings a lot with the but boy you talking about putting America's team on the map it would be wild if that happens be great for those of us to do what we do for a living that's for sure and you've done this type of thing for a living for a long time we're going to see you in in a slightly different role on on TV here coming up this fall right well I I'll be doing a lot of the same things you know I I'll be working shows I'll work for fox and and everything I'll go on um on Cameron and Maze podcast the business is is is metamorphosing it's more moving towards the devices than the traditional mic you you see the numbers the traditional TV so you have to swim where the other fish are swimming you know what I mean so you just you kind of just metamorphosis you you do some things here I'll do some things on TV but we'll also do other things also see you on FS1 uh on a regular basis here talking football uh this fall let's go back to Michael Irvin Playmakers 88 one more sell it to us one more time here it's open in the colony kind of up in that general grandscape area what can people find when they go to your restaurant and your uh your Lounge it's right there next to Top Golf great great location really a great location and and and and it's beautiful area beautiful people the people that I work with in the colony you know we want to have fun they wanted a family atmosphere and and at Playmakers and that's what it is so you know it's a great place to come you've been teaching your kids all about the Dallas Cowboys you've been doing it verbally I'm giving you visuals to help talk about the greatness of our team to make sure they know we did win Super Bowls before and hopefully we'll get back to it and you'll see this guy in the restaurant I have a feeling from time to time I'm always there Mike I'm always there because I first I had to learn operations before I I didn't speak to anybody for for the first month of Us opening because there was nothing I could say I have to learn you have to sit you have to learn you talk about leadership sometimes leadership just requires me being a great follower let me follow see what people are doing then I can interject how we can maximize and find other revenue streams and and then maximize that delivery and then work those margins gets philosophical about football and gets philosophical about the restaurant thanks for coming mik