Michael Strahan Interview on WFAN
Michael Strahan talked to Boomer and Carton of WFAN about the NFL and his new gig with the NFL on FOX. To hear the interview in its entirety, click here.
Archive for the ‘Michael Strahan’
Video: Michael Strahan Breaks Down NFC East
Michael Strahan talks about the NFC East and Plaxico Burress’s suspension.
NO END TO DEFENSIVE ENDS
So last year Umenyiora was the only player selected to the Pro-Bowl from the Giants, but many are saying it was due to Strahan. Will this season be a repeat for Osi?
Here’s the 411, Osi has become known for his sacking ability (especially that game against McNabb) but was this really because Strahan was getting a lot of the attention? Probably. This still doesn’t take away from the fact that he can get to the quarterback and throughout his intentions he’s bound to get to the QB. Strahan was a major concern for offensive linemen. They would practice before game time a strategy based on his reading ability. Running plays were mostly concentrated on the opposite side to avoid loses and quarterbacks would move in the pocket towards the opposite side to also avoid complications from Strahan. Truth is, during the season they had both become a concern to opponents and plays were now based on their rushing attacks. Justin Tuck will now be the next beast on the line and he’ll be another worry for the guards. Tuck, like my man Keith mentioned to me over the phone, is a well rounded player. He has great containment coverage so it’s not all about sacks for these defensive ends. Umenyiora will benefit greatly from this figure and will most likely maintain his aggresive streak of sacks due to another main concern (which is Justin Tuck). Who will appear in the 3rd spot for these defensive ends? Will it be the rookies Alex Morrow and Robert Henderson? Dave Tollefson? who we have seen very little of due to Tuck being able to take charge of the 3rd string spot for his great contributions; or can it be Renaldo Wynn? who we’re yet to see him in action.
The defensive end spot will be supervised closely to make sure we don’t lose our reputation of attack. I’m sure defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will find the best mode of attack for each player and use them to our benefit during the season.
The battle is on and my New York Giants are ready to prove that we have what it takes at the defensive end spot. We might not be full of pro-bowlers but I can assure you it will be them who fear the most their opposing shadow when it comes to playing my Giants.
Michael Strahan Visits Cowboys Camp
ESPN.com found out that Michael Strahan visited the Cowboys‘ training camp yesterday. The article explicitly stated that Strahan was there as “an observer” for his new role as part of Fox’s NFL pregame show. Michael had this to say about his visit…
It’s good to be back at training camp where I don’t have to participate. For about 30 seconds, I was like, ‘Um, I kind of miss it.’ I had my Favre moment, then realized that I’m not going to do that. I’m done.
I enjoy waking up when I want to. I enjoy saying, ‘Do I feel like working out? Nah.’ This is going a lot better or just as well as I expected. You can’t beat winning the Super Bowl and playing the way that we played. There is just value in the way that we ended.
I won the ring, that’s good enough. I’m not going to push my luck. That was the toughest team [Cowboys] and the best team in the league that we played. After that game, we did feel like we could win it all. That was the real challenge for us, playing against the Cowboys. And I let Jerry [Jones] know that.
The article also mentioned that Strahan left his Super Bowl ring at home, but I think he should have brought it so he could rub in the face of T.O., Romo, and Jerry Jones. That would’ve been another priceless Kodak moment. Two Cowboys had something to say about Michael’s visit. Tight End Jason Witten said half-jokingly, “It makes me sick looking at him. At least he didn’t wear his Super Bowl ring out here. I told him I didn’t know if I’d let him in here. He’s still got buddies over there.” Wide Receiver Terrell Owens said, “Every time I looked over, he had a lot of people around him. That’s just the perks of being a Super Bowl champion. He’s taken on a new role being part of the media, so I don’t really talk to the media that much.” Bow down to the Ring Cowgirls.
Q&A Session With Michael Strahan
Steve Serby of the New York Post had a Q&A Session with Michael Strahan today. Here are some of the questions…
Q: You retired; Jeremy Shockey’s unhappy; Plaxico Burress wants more money. Can the Giants repeat?
A: Yeah, I mean anything’s possible. It’s all about your focus and your commitment to doing what’s best for the team, and not as an individual.
Q: Shockey’s a good teammate?
A: He’s a great teammate. There’s not a guy in that locker room who would say, “I don’t like Jeremy Shockey. He’s a jerk.” If you want to learn how to work hard, if you want to learn how to be intense, if you want to learn to believe that you’re the best and work for it, if you want to learn how to always require and demand the best out of yourself, you watch Jeremy Shockey.
Q: Advice for Osi Umenyiora as he begins Life After Michael Strahan?
A: Don’t worry about it. As long as he knows he’s doing his best, that’s all he can do. And don’t get frustrated by getting double-teamed, don’t get frustrated by getting triple-teamed, ’cause I’ve gone through that stage where it had me in the dumps. But, it’s a compliment to you. Just continue to fight, continue to work through it, and eventually, you’ll learn how to defeat those things.
Q: Should Mathias Kiwanuka be moved back to defensive end?
A: I think he’s a natural end. I think he picked up linebacker pretty well for a guy who never played it in his life, but I think you can find guys who can play linebacker who always play linebacker. Kiwanuka is a natural, explosive defensive end. (Justin) Tuck is a hybrid, and I think Tuck is probably better served rushing from the inside. They can’t stop him on the inside, whereas on the outside, he’s not as natural as Kiwanuka is. I think that would just be a much better setup.
Q: Will success spoil Tom Coughlin?
A: No. He may smile a little bit more, but he’s still gonna work you.
Jay Glazer Pranked Michael Strahan
Apparantly, Michael Strahan was hanging out with his Fox buddy Jay Glazer in Las Vegas. Glazer told SI.com a story about a prank he pulled on Strahan…
We went to Tryst [nightclub] in the Wynn Las Vegas and stayed for about 30 minutes. I got the manager and waitress to help me out and come up with a fake bill and drop it on Strahan for $25,643.18. The bill should have been $500 max and he immediately says, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, there’s got to be a mistake!’ The waitress said, ‘Nope, that was the total.’ Immediately, you can see he’s getting pissed. He says, ‘I had two bottles, this bill is for $25,000!’ I step in and say, ‘What are you, an idiot? You offered to pay for that table of Giants fans back there.’ He starts to freak and now he’s getting angrier and says, ‘Shut up, Jay! What Giants fans, show me them! Where are these fans? I did not agree to this.’ The waitress was awesome because she acted like they must’ve just left. He starts freaking more, asking for the manager, asking for security. He wants the boss down there. He’s not paying.
Jared [Fogle] and all the Subway execs are there with our agent, Maury Gostfrand, and Mike’s girlfriend, Nicole Mitchell. So I step in again and say, ‘Calm down, what do you want from the waitress? That’s what you get for being a big shot.’ To which he turned and yelled, ‘I said, Shut up, Jay’ and shoves me across our section. We all just lost it. We were dying. We were taping it on my camera phone but it didn’t come out. At that point, he realized I nailed him. He’ll get me back I’m sure and it’ll suck.
That’s hilarious. It’s like he got Punked, but the camera didn’t work which sucks. I would’ve loved to have seen it.
Post-Super Bowl XLII Giants Books
Ralph Vacchiano of The Blue Screen is keeping us up-to-date with all of the Giants’ post-Super Bowl books…
- Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl by Plaxico Burress (with Jason Cole) - It is available in stores now. Also, Burress will be at Book Revue in Huntington, NY for a book signing on Wednesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. if you live nearby and want to stop by.
- Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback - It won’t be available for another few weeks, but you can pre-order it.
- More Than Just The Catch by David Tyree (with Kim Daniels) - Due out this fall.
- A Team to Believe In: Our Journey to the Super Bowl Championship by Tom Coughlin (with Brian Curtis) - Due out this fall.
- Inside the Helmet: Hard Knocks, Pulling Together and Triumph as a Sunday Afternoon Warrior by Michael Strahan (with Jay Glazer) - Was released in 2007 and is being re-released with new sub titles and additional chapters.
- The GM: A Football Life, a Final Season, and a Last Laugh by Tom Callahan (written with Ernie Accorsi’s help) - Was released in 2007 and is being re-released with new sub titles and additional chapters.
That’s quite a list. Hopefully all of the writing has no effect on my boys when the season comes around. Definitely check out some of those books, and feel free to let us know how they are.
Michael Strahan Interview on WFAN
Earlier this morning, ‘Joe and Evan’ of WFAN were joined by recently retired Giants DE and newest member of FOX NFL Sunday crew Michael Strahan. To hear the interview in its entirety, click here.
Third annual Michael Strahan-Dreier LLP Charity Golf Tournament
Michael Strahan is definitely keeping busy for a guy who just retired. He will kick off the third annual Michael Strahan/Dreier LLP Charity Golf Tournament on Sunday, according to Michael O’Keeffe of the New York Daily News. The event, which benefits Children’s Rights and Keep a Child Alive, begins with an Alicia Keys concert at Tao and concludes with a golf outing at Century Country Club in Purchase on Monday. Strahan said, “We make sure everyone has a good time but we never lose focus on why we’re doing it. We never lose focus on what the night is about and what the charity is about.” The guest list includes all types of celebrities, and it sounds like a hot party more than a charity event. Michael did not include all of the information for everyone to make a donation like Eli just did.
FOX Made Michael Strahan Official
Michael Strahan was introduced as the newest member of Fox’s NFL pregame show during today’s news conference. The AP covered the press conference, and Strahan said that he isn’t afraid to criticize his former teammates or friends in the NFL. Here’s some of what he had to say, “I look at it as I’m on this team now. I have to speak objectively and tell the truth of what I see, regardless of if I was in the locker room last season or not, if those guys are my friends or not. I think my situation, my personality, I’m different than Tiki. If I were to say something, I’m just going to tell the truth. For me, I think a lot of people expected that. I think for Tiki, it was a little bit out of his comfort level, what people expected of him.”
It is a somewhat difficult situation for players to become an Analyst immediately after they retire. Strahan is correct when he said that his situation is different than Tiki Barber’s was a year ago. Strahan has always been a clown so nobody expects him to be anything but. Barber was beloved by Giants fans and by Wellington Mara. Tiki was the one of the classiest and best running backs in the NFL until he said that the team got out-played and out-coached up in Seattle. Since then, he kept on bashing the team publically. He retired in the peak of his career, and he said that he was retiring because he couldn’t play for Coach Coughlin. He wrote his little book all about Tiki. In his book, he said he would still be on the Giants if Coach Coughlin wasn’t there anymore. Then he got on NBC and called out Eli. Then his twin called out Eli during the Playoffs. How could one of the classiest guys in the NFL turn into an egocentric maniac? Wasn’t it Coach Coughlin who taught him how to hold onto the football? At least he got a new ice cream flavor today. That will boost his ego a little more. Tiki is not supposed to say the wrong thing because he’s Tiki. It is one thing to criticize his former team, but he went to the extreme in doing so. Strahan also just won a Super Bowl with Eli Manning as the Quarterback and Tom Coughlin as the Coach which proved Barber wrong so I’m sure that Giants fans will give Michael more leeway than Tiki ever got.
