May 27, 2005 | In the gospel according to Michael Irvin - record-setting NFL veteran, reformed substance abuser, born-again Christian and now, with the release of The Longest Yard, budding movie actor - playmaking on the field isn't all that different from playacting for the cameras. Each task, he explains with the boundless enthusiasm that has become his trademark, represents the sort of challenge that a natural-born competitor (like, say, Michael Irvin) can't resist.

"I do believe," Irvin said during a recent Houston visit, "that challenges are what separate the great athletes from the good ones. The great athletes want a challenge - want to meet and beat every challenge. Hey, when we line up, you know they're throwing me the ball. I know they're throwing me the ball. Can you stop me? You can't stop me. I will impose my will upon you."

Irvin took a similarly self-directed approach to making the final cut for The Longest Yard, director Peter Segal's brutally hilarious remake of the popular 1974 football-behind-bars dramedy. Given his awesome exploits as a world-class receiver for the Dallas Cowboys - he has three Super Bowl rings to his credit - and his on-camera experience as a NFL commentator for TV broadcasts, the ex-footballer had sufficiently impressive credits to land a try-out for the key supporting role of Deacon Moss, a convict who agrees to join his fellow prisoners for an inmates-versus-guards gridiron match-up. But it was his videotaped audition, not his sterling resume, that sold Segal on casting the former Cowboy -- "instead of a real actor," Irvin said with a hearty chuckle.

It wasn't until he arrived on location in New Mexico - where most of the movie was shot at the now-defunct Santa Fe State Penitentiary - that Irvin felt any trepidation about making his acting debut. Not to worry, though. He simply did what any good team player does: He sought advice for the big game from a savvy coach.

Burt Reynolds starred in the original '74 Longest Yard as Paul "Wrecking" Crewe, a fallen-from-grace NFL great who gets a shot at redemption while serving hard time. Adam Sandler subs for Reynolds in the remake, playing Crewe as an unlikely hero who leads his fellow inmates in a grudge match against prison guards. Meanwhile, Reynolds reappears as a grizzled con (and, not incidentally, former NFL player) who serves as Crewe's team coach.

Off-screen, Reynolds - who has directed for stage and screen, and conducts acting seminars at his Florida headquarters - agreed to be Irvin's personal trainer.

"He said to me, 'Mike, I'll tell you what -- I watch you on Sundays, doing the football commentary. You're great on TV. And you know why you're great? Because you stay real. You say what you mean, and mean what you say. So do the same thing here. Stay real. Feel what you're doing - and let the camera bring the rest of it out of you.'

"And that was great advice." Irvin said. "Because, hey, if acting is staying real - I can do that."

Indeed, Irvin feared he might be too real during a rough-and-tumble basketball game between Deacon Moss and Paul Crewe. The scene called for Irvin to verbally and physically intimate - and, occasionally, collide with -- Adam Sandler. Which, when you stop and think about it, isn't the kind of thing a supporting actor normally does to a top-billed star without serious consideration aforethought.

"Look, I'll admit, I was sacred. I was thinking, 'Wait a minute, you don't want to hurt Adam. I mean, he's the man.' So I took him aside, and said, 'Hey, man - I'll come at you with it.' And he told me: 'Sell it.' And I told him: "No, man, I'll really come at you.' And he said, 'That's cool. Sell it. Really sell it.' And I said, 'Are you sure? You ain't going to fire me? I'm not out of here?' And he said, 'No. Sell it.' So I said OK - and we really went into it.

"Whatever I'm doing, I'm an extremist - right? That's why I've had some of the problems I've had. But as long as I'm doing good, I work hard, work hard, work hard."

Between takes, Irvin found himself constantly laughing at the off-camera wisecracking and insult-swapping of Sandler and co-stars Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan. But what he really enjoyed most about making Longest Yard was the opportunity to recapture what he misses most about football. Not actually playing the game, mind you, but savoring the camaraderie.

"People ask me, 'Hey, you put the pads back on. What was that like? Did it make you have an itch to play again?' No, it really didn't. I mean, I still hurt now from when I played. I put back on the pads, and it helped me realize: 'You were right - you can't play any more football.' But it did give me back a locker room. And that's the thing most players miss when they leave the game.

"This movie gave me back a locker room and being around the guys for six months. It was man talk. It was funny. It was great."

The only downside of Longest Yard was the constant reminder that, had a few breaks gone the wrong way after his much-publicized arrest on drug-related charges, Irvin wouldn't merely be acting the role of an imprisoned convict.

"I was one juror away, you know what I'm saying? I remember when I was going through all that, I was talking with my bishop, and he said to me: 'You have to prepare for this thing not going the right way. And we have some people in the prison who, if this doesn't go the right way, can give you some spiritual support.' And man! That was when I really had to deal with the reality that I might be going to prison.

"So, yeah, there were times when I was on the set when I definitely thought about that. And let me tell you: When I walked into that yard in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and they started telling me about all the stuff that had gone on in that prison - oh, God, did that hit me. But at the same time, I thought, 'OK, God, I got You. This is Your subtle way of telling me: "See what I pulled you out of…"'

"The thing is, I know I'm the one I have to protect myself against. And it's like I said to myself the other day: I'm so tired of fighting with me, I don't know what to do. But that's the fight we all have, from the cradle to the grave. That's my prayer every morning. I thank the Lord for everything He's given me, but I thank Him most of all for his protection. The bible says, 'No weapon that's formed against me shall prosper.' So I know that the battle is mine - I'll win it in the end. And I don't even mind the struggle that I have to go through for the battle. But I ask the Lord to protect me from the enemy - the inner me. You understand what I'm saying? That's the nut I got to worry about. These exterior people, I see them coming from a mile away. But it's that nut inside of me that I have to continue to protect myself from."