Michael Irvin Says Bill O'Brien Compared DeAndre Hopkins to Aaron Hernandez in Wild 'Get Up' Segment: TRAINA THOUGHTS

ESPN let Michael Irvin drop a bombshell on 'Get Up,' with a wild story of DeAndre Hopkins telling a story of his former Texans head coach comparing him to Aaron Hernandez.

1. ESPN had Michael Irvin on Wednesday's edition of Get Up when he casually dropped a bombshell.

After saying he had talked to Hopkins right after the wideout was traded from Houston to Arizona, Irvin said he had to get the full story about why such a talent would be sent out of town. The former Cowboys great revealed that he followed up with Hopkins and got the full scoop. Here's what Irvin said on the ESPN morning show: 

"Hopkins told me, he said, 'Michael, it was a bit of a power struggle there because Bill O'Brien thought he had too much influence over the locker room.' He called DeAndre Hopkins in a meeting to talk about this and kind of hash it out.

"In that meeting, he started with telling DeAndre Hopkins this, that blew my mind when Deandre told me this: ‘The last time I had to have a meeting like this was with Aaron Hernandez.’ I was like, ‘What, he put in Aaron Hernandez in this meeting?’ He said, ‘Yes, he did, Michael that blew my mind that he would even bring that up. I’ve never been in any trouble. I don’t know why he would equate me with Aaron Hernandez.’

“From there, the meeting just deteriorated. You know, he got into talking about DeAndre Hopkins, and DeAndre Hopkins has a few kids and from different women. He told DeAndre that he doesn’t like that he has his baby mamas around sometimes. From there, I think the relationship just went bad and thus, we got a trade of DeAndre Hopkins from Houston for basically, like I said earlier, a ham sandwich.”

.@michaelirvin88 shared shocking details surrounding the relationship problems between Bill O'Brien and DeAndre Hopkins. pic.twitter.com/mr33pvpfxC

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 18, 2020

Get Up panelist Marcus Spears couldn't wrap his brain around Irvin's story.

Comparing Hopkins to Aaron Hernandez makes this a wild story, but what's interesting from a media standpoint is that ESPN let Irvin go with it on the air and then had host Mike Greenberg announce after that ESPN would try to confirm it.

It's highly unlikely that O'Brien would confirm the accusation, but it's surprising that ESPN wouldn't vet the story before letting Irvin go with it on air given its magnitude. I'm not saying Irvin made it up or is wrong. I'm just saying it's a little strange that ESPN wouldn't attempt to get a comment from O'Brien first since the news is so damning.

UPDATE: Immediately after I posted Traina Thoughts, Hopkins sent this tweet:

So it didn't take long for Hopkins to throw Irvin right under the bus and make ESPN look even more suspect for the way it reported this story.

2. This week's SI Media Podcast features an interview with John Ourand of Sports Business Journal. During the show, we discussed how networks will proceed over the next few months without sports, what we could expect to see from ESPN, how leagues will handle the return of sports in terms of scheduling, the NFL draft, WrestleMania and the impact that Tom Brady leaving the Patriots will have on CBS and FOX.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play

3. Julian Edelman turned to Whitney Houston to say goodbye to Tom Brady.

4. Meanwhile, Buffalo's mayor had to remind people that they could celebrate Brady's departure from the AFC East only at home because bars are closed and restaurants are doing only takeout and delivery.

5. Traina Thoughts reader Michael F. sent along this email yesterday:

Jimmy,

I would like to see the video or audio of Mike Francesa saying that he invented Radio Row at the Super Bowl. I enjoy all of the Mike Francesa content. Traina Thoughts is great. Thank you.

Francesa doesn't flat out say that he and Chris Russo invented Radio Row in this clip below, but the strong implication is there. Enjoy.

6. SPORTS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Twitter will be filled tomorrow with people lamenting that it's supposed to be the first day of the NCAA tournament. I don't know if this will add to the sadness or give you three minutes of happiness, but all we can do now is remember Gus Johnson's best calls.

7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: Based on my emails and Twitter mentions, you want as many Curb Your Enthusiasm clips as you can get these days. I'll do my best to provide that for you.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.