Early in Super Bowl week, representatives of an Arizona hotel owned by Marriott informed NFL Network of a misconduct complaint made by an unnamed employee about Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin. It resulted in Irvin being removed from the Super Bowl coverage both at NFL Network and ESPN.
Irvin reacted swiftly, filing a $100 million lawsuit against Marriott and the accuser. And the court in Collin County, Texas is moving as swiftly as any court ever moves in a civil lawsuit.
Via TMZ.com, the presiding judge already has ordered that Marriott must identify the name of the employee -- and that Marriott must produce video evidence regarding the alleged interaction. Marriott also must disclose the NFL Network employee(s) to whom the report was made.
The specific allegations against Irvin never has been disclosed. Although he did himself no favors by talking publicly about the situation in the aftermath of being pulled off the air by NFL Network, his legal strategy has been effective, to say the least.
Irvin aggressively is attempting to prove his innocence. So far, he seems to be winning.
Making the situation even more compelling -- and awkward for the league -- is that Marriott is a long-time sponsor of the NFL.