An All-American for the University of Nebraska in 1983, Fryar played alongside Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier (running back) and Heisman finalist Turner Gill (quarterback).

Fryar has had several off-field incidents during and after his career. In 1985, he missed the AFC championship game after injuring his hand in a domestic dispute with his pregnant wife. He was arrested in 1988 on weapons charges after a New Jersey state trooper found a loaded shotgun and handgun and a hunting knife in Fryar’s car.

On November 23, 1986, Fryar separated his shoulder during a game against the Buffalo Bills. Instead of watching the rest of the game from the sidelines, Fryar left the stadium and was listening to the game while driving his car through Foxboro. He crashed into a tree and suffered a slight concussion.

Fryar played in Super Bowl XX with the Patriots and scored their only touchdown in their 46–10 loss to the Chicago Bears. He played a total of 255 games in his career and made the Pro Bowl five times (1985, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997). He was one of the few marquee players on the 1–15 1990 team.

Fryar retired from the NFL in 2001 after completing 17 NFL seasons. During that time, he caught 851 passes for 12,785 yards and 84 touchdowns, along with one rushing and three punt return touchdowns. He also gained 242 rushing yards, 2,055 yards returning punts, 505 yards on kickoff returns, and 7 fumble return yards, giving him 15,594 all-purpose yards.

Fryar’s son, Londen, was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2009 out of Western Michigan University. He did not play in a regular season game, and was waived in 2010. He played for the Mönchengladbach Mavericks of the German Football League in 2011.

His wife filed for divorce in 2014 after 29 years of marriage. They have four children.

On August 7, 2015, Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud six banks and a mortgage company by a New Jersey Superior Court jury. The prosecution maintained that Fryar and McGhee conspired with real estate consultant William Barksdale in a scheme to fraudulently obtain six home-equity loans totaling about $850,000 in November and December 2009, and a $414,000 mortgage in October 2009, using McGhee’s home as collateral in each instance. Fryar and McGhee maintain they were victims of Barksdale, who is serving a 20-month sentence in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the scheme, and plan to appeal.

On October 2, 2015 Pro Football Talk reported that Fryar and his mother were convicted of mortgage fraud. Fryar will receive a five-year prison sentence while his mother will receive probation. According to the New Jersey AG who oversaw the case, John Hoffman, “The fact that Fryar had the means to succeed and do good things and instead chose this criminal path makes his actions all the more reprehensible”.

On December 7, 2015 a NJ Judge handed up an order that Irving Fryar and his mother to pay $615,600 in restitution to five lending institutions that were cheated in a mortgage scam. Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, were convicted of applying for multiple mortgage loans in quick succession while using the same property as collateral. Fryar was sentenced in October to five years in prison while his mother received three years of probation. In June 2016 Fryar was released from prison after serving 8 months of his sentence. He was placed under the state’s Supervision Program for non-violent offenders.