Michael Irvin's college dorm room had an unusual decoration: his father's work clothes, hanging where he could see them every day. The elder Irvin worked as a roofer and pastor, and his son never forgot the labor that supported their family.
That memory fueled Irvin through a standout career at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, then at the University of Miami, and finally with the Dallas Cowboys. His father passed away before Irvin's senior season at Aquinas, but the lesson remained: outwork everyone, every day.
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