Michael Irvin: Cris Carter told my wife to leave me

Michael Irvin thinks Cris Carter went too far in publicly stating that the Cleveland Browns should cut troubled receiver Josh Gordon.

And this isn’t the only time Irvin thinks his fellow Hall of Fame receiver made such a mistake.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, the former Dallas Cowboys great revealed that Carter told Irvin’s wife to leave him back when her husband was struggling with substance abuse.

“I don’t know what year it was, we were in the Pro Bowl. And all Cris is trying to do, he’s just trying to share his experiences,” Irvin told ESPN’s Dan Le Batard. “He said to my wife -- he said to my wife -- you know, Michael would never come out of this problem until you leave him. Till you leave him. For years, I’ve held it. I’ve never shared that with anybody. I’ve never in my life shared that with anybody. I was so irked with Cris because he was out of line then. His ... is out of line now. He is out. Of. Line.”

Carter recently was quoted by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer as saying being cut by the Browns would be the best thing for Gordon, who could be suspended for a year after failing multiple drug tests.

Before becoming a star with the Minnesota Vikings, Carter had his own issues with addiction and credits being cut by the Philadelphia Eagles early in his career with helping to turn his life around. He thinks the same treatment could help Gordon, just like he apparently did with Irvin many years ago.

Irvin went out of his way to stress that he loves Carter and understands what he is trying to do, but feels Carter is being irresponsible in suggesting what worked for him is the proper step to take for everyone.

As the interview continued, Irvin grew more impassioned and was yelling by the end.

“We can’t be making blanket statements like that and yes I am upset about it and yes, I didn’t address Cris about mine, but I will address him about this,” Irvin said. “I will see him and I will address him about this because I think he has to be careful. He has to be careful.”

Twitter: @chewkiii