He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round with the 15th overall pick of the 2012 NFL draft.

[7] On March 14, 2012, Irvin was arrested for destruction of property after allegedly tearing a magnetic sign off of a Jimmy John's delivery vehicle in Morgantown, West Virginia.

[8] On March 16, 2012, he attended West Virginia's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only perform positional drills.

During the draft process, he attended private workouts and meetings with multiple teams, including the New York Jets, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns.

[13] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Irvin was projected to be a second or third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

[21] Irvin entered training camp getting first team reps at the Seahawks' hybrid Leo (defensive end/outside linebacker) position while Chris Clemons was in a contract hold out.

[23] Head coach Pete Carroll named him the backup defensive end behind Clemons to start the regular season, with Red Bryant occupying the other side.

[25] In Week 5, Irvin recorded two solo tackles, had two sacks, and forced the first fumble of his career during a 16–12 win at the Carolina Panthers.

On November 11, 2012, Irvin made two solo tackles and sacked Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez twice in Seattle's 28–7 victory.

On October 28, 2013, Irvin recorded a season-high nine combined tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and made the first interception of his career during a 14–9 victory at the St. Louis Rams.

[29] The Seahawks finished atop The NFC West with a 13–3 record and also received a first-round bye, as well as home field advantage.

On January 11, 2014, he recorded two combined tackles during a 23–15 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the National Football Conference (NFC) Divisional round.

On February 2, 2014, Irvin played in Super Bowl XLVIII and made two solo tackles as the Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos 43–8.

[31] On October 26, 2014, Irvin recorded three combined tackles and made two consecutive sacks in the fourth quarter to help preserve a 13–9 victory over the Panthers.

The following week, he made three combined tackles, deflected a pass, and returned an interception for a 35-yard touchdown during a 30–24 victory against the Oakland Raiders.

They reached the Super Bowl for the second season in a row after defeating the Panthers in the divisional round and the Packers in the NFC Championship.

In the final 20 seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, Irvin was ejected from the game after committing an unnecessary roughness penalty by throwing a closed-hand punch at Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski that incited a brawl on the penultimate play.

[37] Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn departed after receiving the head coaching role for the Falcons and was replaced by Kris Richard.

Richard opted to retain Wagner, Wright, and Irvin as the starting linebacker trio heading into the regular season.

[citation needed] The Seahawks finished second in their division with a 10–6 record and went on to make it to the NFC divisional round before being defeated by the Carolina Panthers 31–24.

On January 7, 2017, Irvin started his first career playoff game as a member of the Raiders and recorded five combined tackles in a 27–14 loss to the Houston Texans.

In Week 14, Irvin recorded four solo tackles and two sacks on Alex Smith in a 26–15 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs.