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Michael Irvin says Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are big-timing the NFL by not attending draft

Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin. Photo USA TODAY Sports

Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin. Photo USA TODAY Sports

Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin can’t wait for his chance to sit down and have a private, unfiltered talk on Wednesday with the 28 NFL prospects who accepted an invitation to attend the draft in Chicago.

But even as Irvin and fellow Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter are talking to the group that includes likely top 10 picks like defensive lineman Leonard Williams and linebacker Dante Fowler, Irvin will be thinking about the two high profile players who aren’t there.

Quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, who could be chosen with the first two picks, have opted to spend Thursday night in their hometowns with family and friends rather than in Chicago.

“I understand you want to be with your family, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, but you’re a quarterback. Nobody profits more from this league than quarterbacks and I do have an issue with them not being there,” Irvin told USA TODAY Sports. “This is a family. You’re coming into something that is much bigger than you. Don’t big-time it, and that’s what I feel is being done.”

The NFL invited Irvin and Carter to talk to the draft prospects on the day before the draft to share honest stories about life in as a professional athlete. Both Irvin and Carter dealt with drug and alcohol issues during their careers. Carter’s drug issues led to his release from the Philadelphia Eagles, while Irvin was arrested in 1996 on cocaine charges. He pleaded no contest and served a five-game suspension.

Mariota, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Oregon, enters the draft with a spotless off-field record, so maybe he doesn’t need the talk about off-field behavior. But Winston? After a litany of missteps at Florida State that included a sexual assault allegation (he was cleared by police and the university, but faces a civil law suit), a citation for shop lifting crab legs and a one-game suspension for yelling vulgar words in a student center, Irvin wishes Winston would be able to listen.

“I think Jameis would benefit especially from the opportunity to talk to guys like Cris and I, but also just being there and seeing it. He won’t get what he’s getting to be part of. You see [fans] wrapped around the building, sleeping there, to get there. You see what it means to them,” Irvin said. “I absolutely hate the fact that they’re not coming. Everyone will get on me, oh Michael they can make this decision. Yeah, they can. But I can make the decision to hate the fact that they made it.”

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