Cowboys’ David Irving explains his nude Twitter photo

Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving caused a stir by posting a photo on Twitter Saturday of himself mostly nude. Now Irving is explaining the racy photo.

Irving told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill Jr. that the photo is part of Irving’s acting/modeling background.

“As you guys know I’m into acting, I do a little modeling,” Irving said Thursday, via Hill. “As you can see, I do a lot man. I do a lot of stuff in the offseason. Right now, I’m not in model shape. I weigh 302 pounds right now. That was in the offseason when I was 275-280. I will probably put out another one come Christmas.”

Irving says the photo was taken in the summer, but he didn’t feel the timing was right to release it because he was serving a suspension for using a banned substance. Now that he’s back on the field and playing well, he thought it was a good time to release it.

Irving did a lot of acting in college and has his sights set on doing more of that once he retires. And as weird as the photo was, at least this is a lot more artful than the last time some Cowboys had nude photos online.