Dallas Cowboys icon Michael Irvin is back in the spotlight. And this time, it’s not for anything he did in the ’90s. His famous ‘belt to a**’ celebration has taken on a life of its own during the 2025–26 college football season.
Now, the Pro Football Hall of Famer wants to bring that same energy to Sundays. And before anyone else could weigh in, team owner Jerry Jones responded to Irvin’s idea.
Jerry Jones Weighs In on Michael Irvin’s Hilarious Yet Exciting Proposal
When asked about the possibility of reviving Irvin’s viral ‘belt to a**’ celebration in Dallas, Jones didn’t shut it down. In fact, he leaned into Irvin’s legacy, stating that the Cowboys legend has earned the right to do whatever the heck he wants.
“Let me say this, what I’m for is for whatever Michael Irvin is for,” Jones said. “I have a gold jacket. I wouldn’t have the gold jacket had Michael Irvin not played for the Cowboys, in a manner of speaking.” He added, “To be involved and be around the winning mentality or that winning physicality. When Michael says it, I listen.”
The now-viral ‘belt to a**’ celebration, often shortened by Michael Irvin as BTA, is a symbolic domination gesture that has come to define the Cowboys legend’s fiery persona.
Irvin mimes removing a belt from his waist and whipping an imaginary opponent, suggesting that his team has physically and mentally overpowered the competition.
While the move became culturally associated with Irvin during his playing days with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, its modern resurgence has been directly tied to his sideline appearances during the 2025 to 2026 College Football Playoff run involving his alma mater, the University of Miami.
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On Dec. 31, 2025, after Miami stunned defending national champion Ohio State 24 to 14 in the Cotton Bowl Classic, Irvin grabbed headlines by literally removing his belt on the sidelines and striking a Gatorade cooler draped in Buckeyes gear while reenacting what he described as putting the belt to a** on Ohio State.
In footage shared from the celebration, Irvin could be heard repeatedly yelling that they get a belt to a** every week. He later doubled down on the meaning behind the phrase in media appearances, explaining that everybody is always talking BTA, which stands for belt to a**.
The celebration quickly went viral across social media platforms, drawing reactions from fans, comedians, and analysts alike and effectively turning a decades-old dominance symbol into one of the defining viral moments of the 2025 postseason. Miami supporters inside AT&T Stadium erupted during the celebration and treated Irvin’s belt-whipping theatrics as an emotional release.
However, the impact was not limited to Hurricanes fans. Opponents and neutral viewers interpreted the act as an unmistakable taunt and a visual metaphor implying punishment rather than just victory. That is precisely why celebrations of this nature have historically fallen under the NFL’s excessive celebration scrutiny, as they blur the line between entertainment and humiliation.
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Irvin himself has embraced that interpretation and has continued using the phrase as shorthand for weekly dominance during Miami’s playoff push by declaring that the same deal would follow next week with the belt to a**.
Irvin’s repeated use of the BTA celebration throughout Miami’s wins over Texas A and M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss during the 2025 playoff run. He often removed his belt during animated sideline reactions, reigniting the national debate over his personality and intimidation in football celebrations.
