Michael Irvin Nearly Strokes Out During First Take Brady-MJ Debate

Have you ever seen a Hall of Famer stroke out on TV before? You nearly saw it Monday morning as Screamin' A. Smith and Michael Irvin fired up a Michael Jordan vs. Tom Brady GOAT debate on First Take. OutKick Media Insider® Bobby Burack has been all over this story about Irvin being handpicked by Screamin' to replace Max Kellerman specifically on Mondays, and today it happened.

Irvin came in fired up, knowing his role was to unload on Screamin' and to be the Playmaker. Screamin' and the show producers knew they could come right out of the gate by teeing up Brady vs. MJ, and it was the perfect fodder for Irvin to get emotional.

Take it away, Michael!

Burack reports that Screamin' A. had tired of Kellerman's inability to take a definitive stance on a preprogrammed debate. "When Smith co-hosted First Take with Skip Bayless, Smith would take one side and Bayless would take the other. Next, they would defend their positions by cutting animated promos. Smith enjoyed this — it elevated him to the face of ESPN," Burack writes. 

After day one of the Michael Irvin experience, it sure looks like First Take won't have to worry about Irvin not understanding his role. Show producers have their very first viral video, and it took about an hour into the show. That's some serious production out of the Playmaker.

It's probably for the best that ESPN is planning to use Irvin just on Mondays. He's 55 years old. There are literally blood vessels in this guy's head begging for calm...No, Michael, no more Brady-MJ debates...no more fake Cowboys debates...we can't take it, Playmaker!

Meanwhile, ESPN executives are absolutely giddy over the analytics of today's content. Pray for this man and his blood vessels. He might not make it to the fake LeBron debates that are coming soon.

Imagine waking up on a Monday morning after a beautiful weekend of college football and jonesing for this on TV. I'm out, dawg.