Michael Irvin...

steps up as a man, as a brother:

By STEVE ROTHAUS
Miami Herald
Michael Irvin, the macho, God-fearing NFL Hall of Famer from Fort Lauderdale, appears this month — shoulder pads on, shirt off and pants yanked below his waistline — on the cover of Out magazine, in a profile about his unwavering support for gay rights.

“Until we do that, we’re going to be stuck in the Dark Ages about a lot of things. When a guy steps up and says, ‘This is who I am,’ I guarantee you I’ll give him 100 percent support,” he tells journalist Cyd Zeigler in the Out profile titled “Michael Irvin: The Playmaker Preaches.”

Irvin, 45, learned about gay people early in life, when as a youngster he saw his older brother Vaughn walking from the family home wearing women’s clothing.

Irvin couldn’t believe his eyes. He turned to his father. “My dad looked back at me and said, ‘Yes, that’s your brother. And you love your brother,’” Zeigler writes in Out.
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Zeigler suggested that he write a full profile of Irvin’s experience with his brother, who died in 2006 of stomach cancer at age 49.

“He said absolutely. It’s time to talk about my brother,” Zeigler recalled.

Irvin, the 15th of 17 children, told Zeigler that he idolized Vaughn. “He was the smartest, most charismatic man I’d ever seen in my life,” said Irvin, a football star at the University of Miami before joining the Dallas Cowboys.
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Now, Irvin says he supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, Zeigler said. “He’s truly committed to this cause. He really wants people to live their lives.”